Beauty and the Demon
by DeletedAccountNotChangingMind
Summary: If you can learn to love another, and earn her love in return, the spell will be broken...
1. Hope, Grace, and Beauty

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.**

Hello and good evening/morning my friends! I am pleased to present to you for your enjoyment, the first installment in my Fairy Tale Series! I love fairy tales! Who doesn't? So I decided to tip my hat to them and honor some of my favorites and mix them with my other favorite, Inuyasha! Five stories, four paired couples, and all four in the last one.

Beauty and the Beast has always been my most favorite fairy tale. Even though sometimes I would say that so-and-so or this-and-that was my favorite, this was always the one I returned to :). I enjoy the thought of ugly being loved by beauty. I have read and watched countless versions of this story, include fanfics, and this is my version! A mix of them all and a few dashes of my own thing.

Enjoy! :D!

**Beauty and the DemonAKABeauty and the Beast**

**By: Sombra112**

**Chapter 1: Hope, Grace, and Beauty**

In an old village that lay on the coast, bordered by the vast ocean and a just as vast forest, lay a little town called Bella. As it's name implies, it was a beautiful village. A quiet village full of happy and kind people. It was a trading village. They traded timber from their forest, shells and fish from their sea, and the lovely flowers that grew in abundance. Despite that, it was a relatively small town with only one large manor.

The most wealthy of the traders was a man called Jon, he lived in that manor with his three daughters.

Eri, the eldest, was a beautiful girl. Her hair was as black as night and her eyes like the sapphires she loved to adorn herself with. No one called her Eri, everyone called her Hope. Such a lovely girl was set to inherit all of her father's assets and she had more suitors than anyone.

Yumi, the middle daughter was also quite beautiful. Her hair was curly and wild and about as tame as its master. Yumi loved to party, she loved to be seen in gorgeous gowns and the latest fashions. Everyone called her Grace. She moved like a swan and danced like an angel. The only girl with more suitors than herself was Eri.

Rin was the youngest and no less beautiful than her sisters. Her hair was smooth and brown as were her lovely eyes. No one called her Rin either, she was known simply as Beauty. If it were not for her slightly odd personality, she would have just as many suitors as her elder sisters.

However Rin was a bit of an outcast.

Unlike Eri who loved shopping and gossiping with her friends and Yumi who loved to dance the night away on the arm of a handsome young man, Rin liked to read. She spent a great deal of her time at the book shop or the library. Books were her constant companions, you rarely saw her without one either tucked under her arm or tucked under her nose.

She loved reading and learning and having great adventures on the pages of a book.

And there was nothing she disliked more than being called Beauty.

She thought it was a vain and terrible nickname and would have much rather have been called Hope or Grace. But no one would call her Rin and she had to live with being forever known as Beauty.

"It is because you are so lovely, Beauty." her father would tell her with a smile before kissing her forehead.

"We would love to have your name, Beauty." her sisters would say as if astonished she wasn't pleased with it.

And still no one called her Rin.

The girls lost their mother when they were young, leaving them with only their father. They didn't mind as their father was kind and doting. There was nothing he loved more than showering Eri in glittering jewels and clothing Yumi in fine dresses and bringing in new and exciting books for Rin home from his trips.

For years they lived in happiness. Rich and happy, yet still a good natured family.

Until disaster struck.

They were having tea in their parlor when the news came. Rin had been curled up next to the fire with a book, Eri and Yumi had been discussing fashion, and their father had been watching them in complete contentment when they heard.

A terrible storm had hit the seas and all of Jon's trading ships had been sunk and all of their cargo lost.

And just like that, the family was thrust into poverty.

The girls had to sell all their jewels and clothes and books. Their fortune was used to pay off debts from the missing the cargo and the house was sold so they could have some money.

They moved into a small cottage on the edge of the forest. It was a simple wooden house with a loft where the family slept.

They sold the small amount of flowers in their garden to make some money yet nothing was as it had been.

Their father began to fall ill. He couldn't handle not being able to care for his family and the stress of his grief overwhelmed his body. Eri took care of him while Rin and Yumi did their best to sell their flowers.

"I'm home." Rin said as she walked into the door of their small house.

"Beauty." her father beamed at her from across the room.

It distressed her to see him so pale and thin. He was sitting in a comfy chair with a blanket thrown over his lap and the fire going in front of him. On a side table to his right was a book and a cup of still steaming tea.

"Beauty, welcome back." Eri descended from the loft on the ladder that rested in the center of the room.

Besides her father and the fireplace, their was a small kitchen area where Eri cooked and a cot in the corner. Their father wasn't strong enough anymore to get up the ladder so he slept down here instead.

Rin was far too used to her name now to care, besides they had more important things to worry about.

She set her flower basket down by the door. The only things left in it were a few leafs that had fallen off the flowers she had been selling today.

"Is Yumi home yet?" she asked as she removed the scrap of linen that covered her hair.

"Not yet." Eri said as she went to their father. "Are you comfortable?" she asked with a smile. "Do you want me to make the fire bigger?"

"I'm fine, Hope." he patting her arm gently. "Are you going to read to me now, Beauty?" he asked as one hand went hopefully to the book at his side.

"Not yet, papa." Rin went to him and kissed his forehead as he had done countless times when she had been young. "I have to go water the garden first."

"Later then." he smiled as Eri tucked him back in.

"I'll go help Beauty with the flowers." she said to him kindly. "Do you need anything?"

"Nothing, my precious." he waved to them as they left with a pair of water buckets.

"What's wrong?" Rin asked as soon as the door shut and they started off to the well in the center of town. "You never help me with the garden."

Eri sighed. "It's papa." she said sadly. "He's getting worse. I don't know how much longer he'll last. Beauty, what if we lose him?"

"We wont." Rin said firmly without hesitation.

"Come on, Beauty." Eri shook her head as they began walking through town. It was late so most of the food vendors had already closed up for the day. "That positive attitude thing was great after the ships sunk. But it won't work this time."

"Papa has you to care for him." Rin pointed out. "He's doing so well because of it."

"I'm doing everything I can." she admitted. "But I don't think it's enough. And we can't really afford medicine."

"Hope? Beauty?" Yumi appeared before them out of the crowd. Her basket of flowers still had a few left in it but they were slightly wilted. "What are you doing here? Who's home with papa?"

"I had to talk to Beauty." Eri said sadly. "I didn't want papa to hear and get worried. He gets sicker when he gets worried."

"I'm going home." Yumi thrust her basket on Rin. "You shouldn't have left him there alone."

"She's in denial." Eri said as the young girl walked away quickly. "I don't think she realizes that he's-"

"He's not dying." Rin said firmly. "He's just sick."

"He's been sick for a year." Eri frowned. "If he was going to get better he would have done it by now."

Rin turned and continued purposefully to the center of town where the well was. Eri followed after a moment, her head bowed slightly.

"Sorry." she said a moment later. "I'm just so worried all the time about him. I can't imagine life without him."

"He just needs something to keep his attention." Rin smiled back at her sister to show she had forgiven her. "A project."

"He seems to get better when you read to him." Eri pointed out.

"That's because it reminds him of the old days." Rin said as they stopped by the well and waited for a man to finish drawing his water. "I meant something to keep his hands busy. To distract him."

Eri sighed. "Like what?"

"I don't know." Rin shrugged. "You're home with him all day. What makes him feel better?"

"I already told you." Eri smiled sadly. "When you read to him."

The man left and Rin attached her bucket to the rope then began lowering it down. "Maybe we should teach him sewing or knitting."

"I already tried that." Eri admitted. "It makes it worse. I think he thinks it's like he can't even by his girls clothes or blankets."

Rin sighed as she pulled the bucket back up.

"Excuse me?"

They turned together.

A man stood there, he was dressed in worn traveling clothes and he held the reigns of a horse in his hands. The horse wasn't a show horse, it was obviously a working horse used to running for long periods of time.

"Yes?" Rin asked as she looked him over.

He wasn't particularly outstanding and he was rather young, no older than 13 or 14. His trousers and jacket were dusty from being on the rode and the only thing he had with him was a satchel that looked to be almost empty.

"I'm looking for Jon Caro's residence." he said nervously. "Can you point me in the right direction?"

"We're his daughters." Rin said as she passed Eri the full bucket and took the empty one. "What do you want with our father?"

"I have a message, ma'am." he said as one hand went automatically to his satchel. "From someone named Claude Vareen."

"Claude?" Eri blinked in surprise. "He was the captain of one of father's ships."

"What does it say?" Rin asked, forgetting about her bucket. It had always been assumed that Claude had gone down with his ship along with the rest of the men under their father's employ.

"I don't know, ma'am." the boy blushed slightly. "I can't read and it's a letter."

"Well, let me see." Rin held out her hand.

"Pardon, ma'am." the boy bobbed his head nervously. "But I've been instructed to give it to no one other than Jon Caro."

"Beauty?" Eri looked at her sister. "What if it's bad news? Papa, can't handle bad news."

Rin looked at the boy seriously for a second. Then she sighed. "Better let him have it. Most likely Claude is just writing to say he's alive and that will cheer up papa considerably."

Eri nodded gravely. "I guess so..."

"Come on, follow us." Rin finished drawing water and led the way with her sister.

Even if it was bad news, Claude was still alive and that was good news in and of itself.

One of the reasons for their father's sickness was the crushing guilt he felt at all of those lives lost because of his business. This letter would do a lot to alleviate it. Besides, what more bad news could they get?

If the boy was surprised by their poor cottage, he made no comment on it.

"You can tie your horse there." Rin said at she pointed to the fence that surrounded their small, yet colorful, garden.

"Yes, ma'am." he said and did as he was told.

While he did, Rin and Eri went inside.

"There you are." Yumi glared at them from their father's side. He had a bowl of stew in his lap. "What took you so long?"

They set their buckets down and Eri went to Jon to check on him as Rin set down Yumi's flower basket.

"Papa, we have good news." Rin smiled brightly. "Claude sent us a letter."

"Claude?" the elderly man blinked for a second in confusion. Then his face cleared and he beamed. "Claude! My old friend! He is alive?"

"He sent a letter." Eri smiled at Rin. Their father hadn't looked this pleased since their fall from riches.

The messenger boy walked in and looked around curiously before his eyes landed on Jon. "Jon Caro?" he asked.

"Yes, boy. Yes." He grinned at him and held out a withered hand. "You have a letter for me?"

"Yes, sir." the boys reached in his satchel and pulled out a sealed envelope. Stamped into the wax was the seal used by their father's trading company.

Jon took it eagerly and, with a strength the girls didn't know he still had, he ripped it open himself and held it in front of his eyes.

"What does it say?" Yumi asked without letting him read it.

Jon laughed. "Patience, Grace." he smiled. "I'm afraid my eyes aren't what they used to be. Beauty?" He held the letter out to her.

Rin took it with a smile and lifted it before her eyes. She was so nervous, if it did hold bad news, depending on how bad, it might break their father completely. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all.

But Jon was looking at her with such a happy expression as he waited for her to read that she didn't have the heart to change her mind.

Rin took a deep breath and read:

_"Jon, my old friend, it has been to long. I'm sorry I have not managed to get into contact with you before, I'm afraid I've been quiet...busy. The hurricane last year that destroyed your fleet somehow, by some miracle, didn't sink my ship."_

There was a collective gasp and Rin's eyes lit up as she rushed to finish.

_"However, we were lost and couldn't find our way around. We had the stars as our guide and a single compass to guide us, but it made no difference for we had no idea where we were. We traveled from port to port, trying to find our way home for most of this past year. And, as we traveled, we managed to trade our cargo. We traded for new and exotic things. Perfumes and silks and other such wonders. I'm sure you will be quite pleased. We did suffer a pirate attack. However, with some magic black powder we traded for in the east, we managed to blow a hole in their ship."_

"Ah, Claude." Jon sighed happily and sat back in his chair as if Rin were reading him another story.

_"Finally, we found a port town that we recognized and were able to find our way home. I'm writing you this quickly to say that, despite the loss of your other ships, we have survived. And we bring back many goods to trade. I hear you have fallen on hard times and your health is none to well. So I shall sell them in your absence and send you your earnings. Hoping this news brings you great happiness, Claude."_

"Oh, wow!" Eri said as tears formed in her eyes and Yumi beamed with excitement.

Rin lowered the letter. "Oh, papa, that's wonderful!"

"My good friend." Jon looked into the fire happily. "There is nothing that gives me greater joy than to hear you are safe."

The girls looked at him for a moment as he stared into the flames.

Suddenly, he snapped to attention. "Well, I can't just let my men work as I laze about here! I'm going to the city!"


	2. The Dark Forest

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.**

...

**Chapter 2: The Dark Forest**

"Papa! Stop this at once!" Eri said nearly at tears.

Yumi was sitting in front of the fire place looking around like she wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Rin had her back against the wall and was observing the scene with disbelief.

Papa, her papa, the same papa that hadn't really moved from his chair in months, was walking about the room with vigor!

"Ah, my sweet Hope." he smiled at his eldest. "I feel a thousand years younger!"

"But you're still weak." she protested as he moved about.

He had grabbed a pack and was putting in some clothes and food. He planned to travel through the forest and meet up with his long lost friend.

And while it was true Rin hadn't seen him this energized in a year, she was also afraid. Surely he shouldn't be moving around this much. But he was taking bites of fruit, without help, and drinking water and moving like...like...

Like he had a year ago...

"Eri." Rin said gently. Her sister stopped and looked at her with tears swimming in her eyes. She had devoted all of her life this last year to taking care of their ill father. It was no wonder she was worried. Rin smiled gently and hugged her sister. "Don't worry. I haven't seen papa this happy in a long time. I don't want this to go away. This is just what he needed."

"But he's so weak..." Eri protested softly and leaned into Rin as if _she_ were the younger sister.

"Not anymore." Rin turned her sister around and pointed at their papa who was talking animatedly with the messenger. "Look at the color in his face and the light in his eyes. Our papa is back."

"But..."

"Oh, girls!" he turned and beamed at them. "You must tell me to bring you something back! I wish to get you gifts."

"Gifts?" Yumi repeated as she stood up.

"Yes." he nodded. "We'll have money at last! What do you want? Anything! Name it."

"Then...can I have a new dress?" Yumi asked as her eyes lit up.

"Of course my pet." he went to her side and kissed her cheek. "The newest dress in the latest fashion for my sweet Grace." He turned. "And you? Hope?"

Eri smiled through watery eyes. "A new necklace _would_ be nice." she admitted.

"That's my girl." Jon pulled his eldest into his arms and held her as he looked at Rin. "And you, my Beauty?"

"The only thing I could ask is for you to come home safely, papa." Rin smiled.

"Don't you want new books or something?" he asked, his face falling slightly.

Rin almost denied it but the look in his eyes warned her not to. Getting them gifts was healing for him. It was good for him to provide for his family again.

"If you must bring me something, bring me a rose." Rin smiled. "We have all kinds of flowers here but not a single rose anywhere. If you bring me a clipping or two, I can plant them and sell them. They'll be very popular."

He beamed again. "That's my Beauty. You got your business sense from me."

He opened his other arm and Rin slid against his other side. "I'll cut through the forest and reach the city sooner."

"I wish you wouldn't." Eri said as Yumi joined her sisters in their father's embrace. "That forest is enormous and dangerous."

"I feel like I could battle a mountain!" Jon laughed jovially and laughed triumphantly.

"We'll wait for you." Rin said as she curled into her papa's warmth. It had been far too long since he had been able to hold her like this.

"Be safe, okay?" Eri finally said in defeat .

That day, the messenger left. Then, the day after that, Jon also left.

He waved and promised his daughters that he would be back with their requested gifts.

He took a horse that he rented from town and rode away into the forest humming as he went.

Rin was with Eri, she really didn't want him to go. But she knew that this was exactly what he needed. It would be good for him to feel useful again. So she promised with her sisters to take care of themselves and waved him away as the dark shadows of the forest swallowed him up.

"Okay, Aslan," Jon patted his horses neck, "let's get through this forest and back into giving my girls everything they deserve."

The roan looked forward in boredom as it moved without any real hurry through the wood.

In truth, Jon knew very little about this forest. He knew that the people of the village called it the Forest of Nightmares. It was said terrible haunted things lived in this forest. But Jon had been around the block long enough to recognize a silly superstition when he heard it. He hadn't always lived in this tiny village, he had moved there after his wife's death. He was from the city where they knew of the predators that lived in forests that people could mistake as demons from a nightmare.

So he had no worries. In fact, life hadn't felt this good in a long time. It was better than nice to finally be able to do something for his three daughters, his three reasons for living, his Hope, his Grace, and his Beauty. True his body felt a little weaker and his muscles were complaining at the sudden increase in usage. But it was a great feeling! A useful feeling!

For three days, Jon traveled through the wood and, just as he knew he would, saw nothing exciting what-so-ever. In fact, it was turning into a rather bland trip.

"How far on does this forest go?" he asked his stallion as the horse moved purposefully ahead. The deeper into the forest he went, the denser and thicker the trees became. So much so that sometimes he had to dismount Aslan and go ahead on foot so as to clear the way for his horse.

"Where are we?" he asked as he looked around. He as sure it was getting dark so he really should stop soon, however...

He couldn't see a blasted thing in front of his face!

The trees had grown together over his head creating a blanket that covered the whole forest floor in gloom. Jon had his map out and had lit a lantern to see it. But the stars overhead were no longer his guide and Aslan was getting fidgety, nervous from the dark.

"Oh, stop acting like a nag." Jon dismounted and grabbed Aslan's reins. "You keep this up and I'll tell all the girl-horses back home about how you got scared because of a little darkness."

However, Aslan's eyes were darting in fear, like the creature sensed something Jon had missed. His feet were patting the ground anxiously, and he kept pulling on his reins so that he might run and get out of this place. For deep in that inky darkness just beyond the undergrowth...

"That's better." Jon grinned as he was able to hold the map steady under the lantern which he had hung off a saddle bag. "Just need my compass."

He reached into his pocket and found the desired object. It was wood, and the paint on the face had faded slightly because it had belonged to his grandfather. However, it had never failed to dutifully point north and-

Jon gasped.

His compass needle, it was spinning wildly in a counterclockwise circle. It was so fast, he was having trouble keeping up with it with his old eyes.

When he had found himself ill and stuck in his chair by the fire, he had spent many hours contemplating many things. Mostly the world and it's unpredictability. He had discovered four things that were always a sure thing.

1. His precious Hope would always love jewels,

2. his darling Grace would always want the best dresses,

3. his brave little Beauty would always love books

4. and his faithful compass would always point north.

In fact, sometimes he had held his compass just to see that loyal needle unhesitatingly point him north.

But now, his needle was going out of control. It had mutinied and had somehow become something wild and untamed.

"No." Jon shook it but it changed nothing. His faithful compass had stopped working.

A chill went up Jon's spine as a terrible growl echoed from behind him.

Aslan looked around as terror gripped his heart and he pulled, just a little more urgently, at the reins.

"No." he turned and saw, through the bushes, a pair of red eyes glaring hungrily at him. There was nothing human in that stare. It was all beast, all hunger, all wildness. He couldn't see what it was, but whatever it was, it wasn't planning on letting such easy pray escape.

No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen! He was supposed to get his family some money, get his girl's the things they deserve. Not die in this forest because a beast was hungry.

The growling intensified and Aslan reared up in fright.

Jon was frozen where he stood.

Would he never see his Hope smile again? Would he never watch his sassy Grace show off a new dance to him again? Would he never hear Beauty's voice as she read to him again?

"_The only thing I could ask is for you to come home safely, papa."_

"Rin..." he whispered to the wind.

That's right.

The only thing his baby wanted was him back safely. And he would give her that much at least come Hell or high water!

Slowly, keeping his eyes locked with those that watched him, he reached behind him and felt for his only chance.

"Steady, Aslan. Steady." he whispered encouragingly to his horse.

The eyes turned slightly, as if their owner was cocking their head in curiosity.

"I don't care if you're a demon from a nightmare or just an ordinary beastie," Jon said as his fingers found the desired item, "no matter what, I will get home to my girls!"

With a grunt of pain from over used muscles, he threw the lantern in his hand with all the force his old limbs could muster up.

The light was extinguished and burning hot oil landed all over the creature.

He heard it roar in pain and saw a large shadow, much larger than he first thought, jump out of the bushes.

But he didn't stay long, he jumped on Aslan's and snapped the reins. The stallion needed no encouragement. He took off running through the underbrush, not caring if he or his rider was hit with passing branches. In fact, neither did his rider.

Behind them, they heard the heavy thud of pursuing footsteps.

"Hurry, you oaf!" Jon said as he leaned over Aslan's neck. He was grateful he had been given a stallion who could run except all these trees prevented him from going too fast. But luckily, the same could be said for the beast behind them. "Or I won't ever see my pretty daughter's smiles again."

He didn't really care where Aslan was running. He couldn't see five feet in front of his face thanks to his worn out eyes and this darkness and the fact that his lamp had been so suddenly extinguished. His compass, useless thing that it was now, wasn't working anyway. Besides, the animal obviously had far more sense in this forest than Jon did. So he let him run and turn and circle back and do whatever the horse thought was best to survive.

Without looking, Jon threw his now useless compass behind them. He heard a small thud but he had no way of knowing if it hit their chaser or not.

"Come one now, Aslan!" he urged as the horse jumped over roots completely hidden to Jon's eyes. "Get us somewhere safe!" He had no way of knowing if he was asking the horse or praying to a deity.

The change was sudden, so sudden Jon was sure he imagined it. One minute, his horse was traveling hard; jumping, dodging, swerving, then suddenly he leveled out. And the sound of his hoof beats changed. It sounded, not like it was on dirt, but like it was on stone.

Somewhere behind him, he heard the squeal of rusted metal then a metallic clang followed by a large mass hitting the same metal.

"Whoa! Aslan, whoa!" he pulled on the reins hard and the horse slowed down.

He looked behind him but could see nothing.

The treetops however, were gone. He could see the stars twinkling down at him through the cloudless night sky. There was no moon so nothing to illuminate his passage. But his horse was definitely walking on stone and the sky was suddenly clear.

He looked ahead of him and gasped.

A large mass of darkness was looming at him from the night. It jutted into the sky with sharp spires and seemed even darker than the surrounding woods.

"Psst!" He looked down as a sudden, narrow light appeared. It took him a moment to recognize a door being opened and a light from within. "This way!" A hand came out of the door and beckoned him closer.

"Who are you?" he asked hoping his voice wasn't as shaky as he thought.

"Please, just trust me and come inside!" the hand waved him over frantically.

From beyond his sight, he heard the sound of that same creature battling against the metal that had stopped it. "It seems I have no choice." he sighed.

He dismounted and led Aslan, who seemed to have calmed down slightly, to the door.

He looked into the crack and blinked in surprise.

It was a girl.

She was wearing a hooded cloak but her black hair still spilled out of the raised hood and across her chest. Her eyes were a deep brown, like a healthy tree trunk, and her face was quite lovely. Not like his daughters but very pretty all the same. In her hand was a single candle.

"Please, inside." she opened the door a little wider for him.

"My horse..."

"Don't worry about it." she said and he realized, quite belatedly, that she was whispering. But who was she afraid would overhear? "We'll take care of him."

"'We'?" he said but she didn't answer, just moved out of his path.

He walked inside gratefully, and Aslan's hooves clacked on the marble floor.

"Woh..." he breathed and his voice echoed back to him a hundred fold.

He had to be in a palace! That was the only explanation. No hall like this would have existed in a normal house. He couldn't see the ceiling it was so far up and the little candle in the girl's hand wasn't nearly enough to light it. However he did see the columns that lined the walls on either side of the deep burgundy rug that ran the length of the floor. The marble floor, underneath the rug, was a lovely gray with black veins running wildly through it. On the walls, behind the columns, he could see large wooden doors with rounded tops that were nearly two times his height.

"Are you alright?" the girl whispered as she lay a hand on Aslan's neck.

"Yes, you-"

"Shh!" she whispered urgently as his voice echoed around them.

"Sorry." he whispered back. Her eyes, she looked terrified. What did she fear?

"Please, listen." she said desperately. "You can stay here the night, but you must leave in the morning."

"Wha-Why?" he asked back as a look of confusion crossed his face.

"It doesn't matter." she shook her head and looked off into the pitch black that was the rest of the hall. She bit her lip and looked back at him. "Promise you will leave and we'll let you stay here. We'll even give you anything you ask as long as it is nothing from the garden."

"That's very generous..." he said hesitatingly.

"We don't want you to get hurt." she assured him. Was it just the shadows flickering from the candle light, or did she have two slashes on her cheeks? "We'll send you off in the morning but you must be quiet while you're here."

Jon thought of the beast out front and sighed. "I don't really have a choice do I, dear?" he smiled sadly. "Where am I?"

"Please, no questions." she shook her head again. "It's safer for everyone."

She turned and began walking down the hall, her footsteps muffle by the carpet.

Jon looked after her a moment and led Aslan after her. Just what had he gotten himself into?


	3. An Enchanted Castle

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

...

**Chapter 3: An Enchanted Castle**

"Here." the girl said quietly handing him a cup of still steaming tea. She still hadn't removed her hood and he noticed, something he had missed because of the shadows created by the candle, she was wearing a pair of leather gloves.

"Thank you." Jon took it and took a sip gratefully. She had asked him if he had wanted dinner but he had declined. Somewhere in this crazy evening his appetite had disappeared.

The mysterious girl had taken him to a parlor room where a fire had already been crackling merrily in the fire place. Just like the great hall, this place was grand beyond his imagining. The fire place was taller than him and four times as wide. Carved into the back was an intricate design that looked almost floral. The couch he sat on was wide enough for five grown men and softer than a cloud. On one end was a pillow and on top of it a folded blanket.

"Are you comfortable?" the girl asked as she drew back slightly to stand in the shadows.

"You have been most kind." Jon smiled at her. She was really a darling girl. She almost reminded him of Eri, though obviously without the love of jewels. The girl dressed very simply. Much more simple, in fact, than the palace around her suggested.

"Why were you going through the forest?" she asked. "No one ever goes through the forest."

Jon sighed. "I suppose that makes me odd, huh?"

She tilted her head to the side and observed him as a scientist would a new piece of information that didn't quite line up with what he already knew.

So Jon told her everything. The messenger, his daughters, his captain, and the requests his daughters made of him before he left.

The girl said nothing the whole time, just listened in silence as he spoke.

"We can help with the dresses and jewels but I'm afraid we can do nothing about the rose." She smiled regretfully.

"I couldn't ask you." Jon protested. "You've been more than fair to me."

"It will be safer and faster to just return to the village." she said as if he hadn't spoken. "You are still very far from any other exit. So, we'll send you on your way tomorrow. And in the morning, I shall bring you dresses and jewels. I'm afraid your youngest will just have to be happy with your safe return."

"That will make my Beauty more than happy." he smiled at her as he finished his tea.

She took the empty cup from him and smile gently. "Will you be needing anything else?"

He blinked in surprise. She said that just as any well trained servant would. When he had lived in the city, he had visited many places that had servants that acted the very same way. Then she wasn't the owner of this castle? What did that make her then? A servant? Is that why she was so nervous at his presence? And if she wasn't the master of the castle, who was?

So many questions and not one answer.

He heard the door open behind him and the girl's eyes went over his head. For just a moment she looked…terrified. Like she was genuinely afraid of the newcomer.

Then a voice called out, "It's just me."

Relief crossed her face then she smiled. Jon turned but he couldn't see anything in the darkness of the room. It was almost as though the fire was creating more shadows than light.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"I haven't seen him." the voice said. It was completely masculine. Deep and powerful. "He might still be asleep."

"Is there any chance he didn't notice him?" she asked as she clenched and unclenched her hands in worry.

"Hard to say."

There was a tense pause where Jon looked between the unseen male and the strange girl.

Finally, when Jon thought the silence might just drive him mad, the girl sighed.

Then she smiled sympathetically at Jon. "I'm sorry. I know this all must be very confusing for you. But this is all we can offer you. I hope you sleep well."

She bowed to him respectfully before leaving him in the room. Just before she closed the door, she said, "Oh, and one more thing. Please, don't leave this room. It's…better that way." The way she hesitated made him think she might have meant 'safer' which didn't make him feel better at all.

The door shut with a soft click leaving Jon with only his thoughts and the fire crackling softly in the background.

He sighed and sank into the couch.

Aslan had been taken by the girl when she first left him in this room. She had come back without his faithful steed and had, instead, the blanket and pillow. She assured him that he was being well cared for. Not that Jon could question her. He was completely at their disposal until morning.

At least that beast from outside wasn't attacking him anymore. He was safe and that girl didn't look capable of treachery. Her male friend might but that wasn't who was causing him all this unease.

It was that unnamed 'him' they spoke of with just a tremor of fear in their voices. Was this 'he' the master of the castle? Was that girl going to get in trouble for letting him stay here? Then why would she let him in?

Oh, he was going to think himself to death!

There was nothing he could do about it. His horse was off somewhere in the castle and he had no chance of finding it. Not to mention that it was dark outside and that thing that had drove him here might still _be_ here. No, there was nothing that could be done.

So, with just a touch of unease, he got up and grabbed the blanket off the couch. It was thicker than it first appeared and very soft.

He unfolded it and shook it out a few times before draping it over the sofa.

He sighed and looked into the fire. He wondered how his girls were doing. He was sure his Beauty was holding the house together, it would be just like her.

He folded the blanket back an sat back down on the couch.

Perhaps he had acted recklessly. He probably should have listened to his children, they were usually smarter than him anyway. Claude was a good man and a good captain, he would surely have everything under control. He had just wanted to lay eyes on him so bad. Claude had been his first captain when he first started his merchant business. He had gone to him with nothing more than a dream and a pocketful of money, most had called him a fool for taking up with Jon. Claude, however, believed wholeheartedly in Jon and his vision. When the first trading expedition had gone according to plan and had drawn in a good amount of money, it had been Claude who had been able to share it with him. For a while, before the incident, everyone had believed that Eri and Claude would marry. His death had hit her hard, nearly as hard as it had hit him.

If he made it home, he would wait just as Claude had instructed him. A few weeks wouldn't hurt him.

He laid his head down and pulled the blanket over his body.

That girl wouldn't lie, he was sure she was trustworthy. She would let him go in the morning with directions home.

* * *

><p>The first thing he noticed, was the chirping birds.<p>

He opened his eyes and sat up, his body was sore and creaky from the night on the couch. However, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could be.

The old man stretched and looked around him.

In the daylight, the room seemed to have lost it's dark mystery. Now it just looked…abandoned.

The large window set in the far left wall was dusty and cracked in a few of the panes. In one corner of the ceiling there was a large, though thankfully empty, cobweb. Now that the fire had burned down, he could see the hearth hadn't been cleaned in a long while.

If that girl was a servant, she wasn't one who cleaned.

He stood up and looked around. Everything around him, the bookshelf, the small table under the window, the very carpet he walked on, was covered in a film of dust.

Just how old was this castle? Now that he thought about it, he never heard of a castle being in this forest before.

"You're awake."

He jumped and turned. "Goodness!" he exclaimed as he pressed a hand to his racing heart. "You scared me out of a year of my life."

The girl giggled slightly. "I'm sorry."

She was wearing exactly what she had yesterday, the same hooded cloak that flowed only to her hips. A simple dress with a light brown skirt and white top and those same leather gloves.

In her hands was a tray with food.

"I brought breakfast." She held it up. It had toast, jam, a few slices of ham, and a couple of boiled eggs.

"Goddess." he said as his stomach grumbled reminding him that it had been a long while since he last ate.

She smiled again bringing attention to the purple slashes that were, indeed, on her cheeks. Were they make-up? A birthmark perhaps?

"Enjoy." she said, setting the tray on the table under the window. "I'll be back with the gifts for your daughters."

"You don't have to do that." he protested as she began to leave. "I couldn't possibly ask you."

She turned and smiled at him. "Please, it's been so long since we have had guests. Besides, we certainly don't need dresses and jewels. Allow me to serve you in any way I can."

She bowed and left the room.

Strange, she seemed happier this morning. Had she met with the 'he' they had spoken of? Had he approved of Jon staying?

Again, questions ran round and round in his head, driving him mad.

He didn't have to wait long. No sooner had he finished his breakfast than the door was opening again and she was coming back in with his saddlebags.

"I've already placed them in here." she said as she set them gently on the floor. "I can show you for your approval if you like."

"No, no." he shook his head. "You've been most kind. I can't ask for more from you."

"I am sorry about your youngest." she said regretfully. "But we have no roses to give."

"I understand." he smiled. "No one can be expected to give something they don't have."

"You're very kind." he stood up. "My daughters will be most grateful to you."

She smiled and picked the bags back up. "I shall take you to your horse now, if you're ready."

"Of course." he smiled. "Let me carry those."

"No, sir." she laughed. "You're our guest."

He laughed at the way she said it, as if she couldn't be more pleased about there being a guest around.

She led him out of the parlor room and back into the great hall which, despite it being day, was still mostly in shadow.

"Am I permitted to ask questions yet?" he asked playfully.

She giggled. "It would be easier if you didn't."

He smiled and didn't ask anything. She seemed so much happier this morning that he didn't want to bring back any of that fear from the night before.

The great door, which was easily the full height of the great hall, was already opened enough for the two of them.

She led him out into the courtyard and he gasped.

True, the stone walkway leading to the door was broken and cracked and had weeds growing between them.

However, the garden was a different story. Someone had obviously had to great effort to make sure that the garden had been tended. Flowers abounded everywhere, showing their colors and releasing their sweet scent for the whole world to enjoy.

"It is a sight, isn't it." the girl smiled at his dumbfounded expression. "The master does love his gardens."

"It's incredible." he admitted as he gazed at the magnificent colors. Blues, yellows, purples, greens, and…red? A rose?

He looked at the bushes lining the path.

"I'll be back with you horse." she said not noticing anything different about him. "Just wait here a moment."

Without waiting for an answer, she turned and walked away toward a wooden building off to the side. A stable, perhaps?

That didn't matter though, because he was looking at roses. Honest to goodness roses.

He stepped in front of a bush and peered down at them. They were in full bloom and the scent they released into the air was intoxicating. But the girl said they had no roses? Why had she lied?

He looked over to her retreating back but she wasn't looking at him.

Well, one rose couldn't hurt, he thought as he looked at back at them.

Decision made, he checked on the girl one last time and, when she had vanished into the stables, he reached down to a rosebud that had yet to bloom and grasped the stem, checking for thorns.

He pulled but it wouldn't pluck so easily. So he reached down and pulled the small knife out of his boot and cut the stem.

"Ah, perfect." he said.

"No!"

He turned at the screech and was sorry to see it came from the girl who was running toward him with his horse.

"Oops." he said sheepishly. "Got caught."

"No! No!" she yelled.

But she wasn't looking at him, she was looking over his head with that same soul gripping terror that had been in her eyes yesterday.

"You dare."

Jon froze.

The voice that had spoken was male but not the same as the one from last night. This one was much deeper, much darker, much more powerful.

Much more terrifying.

Jon couldn't move, couldn't turn to face this newcomer, fear had paralyzed him.

"I let you in my home." a hand clasped on his wrist and Jon saw, to his horror, that the fingers ended in sharp, deadly claws. "I feed you, I give you gifts. And you betray my hospitality." The voice was calm and all the more terrible because of it.

"Master, no!" the girl appeared in his vision. Her hood had fallen off and he could see on her head a pair of black, triangular dog ears bent down in fear.

"You were told not to go near the garden." he continued as if she hadn't spoken. "You were told we had no roses to give."

"Master, please!" The girl clasped her hands together. She had removed her gloves and he could see on her hand the very same claws that gripped him now. "He has a family! He has daughters to care for! Please, let him go. He didn't mean any harm."

"You told him not to go near the roses." the voice growled. This growl did more to terrify Jon than the growl from last night. "He shall accept his punishment."

"Please, don't." she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "His daughters, he only wanted to get them gifts. His youngest asked for a rose to plant in their garden. Don't punish him for that!"

Jon thought it was hopeless. Whoever this newcomer was, he scared even her who was loyal to him, why should he expect any mercy?

However, the voice paused for a second.

"Very well." The clawed hand release Jon's wrist and Join collapsed in a heap. A large shadow came over him but Jon was too afraid to turn and gaze at this horrible man.

"Old man, you may take that rose home with you. It will grow in your garden and bloom before the season changes. When the roses all bloom, you will either return here to suffer your punishment, or send one of your daughters in your place."

"Master, no!" the girl begged.

"Silence, Kagome." the man said to her. "I gave you permission to care for the human as you asked provided he leave my garden alone. You have failed me. You will be punished as well."

The girl flinched though he hadn't raised his voice at all.

A hand grasped the back of Jon's clothes and hauled him into the air.

"Do you understand?" he asked him. "If you don't return here or send one of your daughters after the roses bloom, I will come and punish all of you."

Without apology, and with a terrible strength, the horrible master of the castle threw him out of the castle gates and onto a heap on the ground. A moment later, his horse was sniffing at his side.

"Remember, when the roses bloom someone will have to return to my castle."


	4. Before the Roses Bloom

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

I got a few complaints that Sesshomaru was too talkative. All I have to say is this, I went back and looked over the episodes that contain Sesshomaru and studied the way he talks and acts. True, he's not an over-talkative guy like Kagome nor is he expressive like Inuyasha. He's not exactly the strong silent type. Sesshomaru talks, especially when he's not pleased. He doesn't, however, raise his voice or get too emotional in his speech. Don't worry, I kinda know what I'm doing. :D

**Chapter 4: Before the Roses Bloom**

Rin was humming as she weeded her garden. Yumi was out selling flowers and Eri was worrying in the kitchen. She had been worrying since papa left. Rin and Yumi had told her that papa would be a few weeks at least and that she should find a way to stay productive. But every time Eri started to do something she always ended up staring at the forest or the ocean.

Rin however, wasn't worried. At least not overly much. Papa had gone on trips before, not through the forest, true, but he had gone on countless others. She was sure that nothing could bring her father down.

So she stayed beside their cottage and weeded and watered her flowers. She even made a spot by the window for the rose clippings papa promised to bring. She didn't mind if he didn't, but it would make him feel better to think he was needed by her.

"Beauty?"

She looked up at her sister's voice. Eri was standing in the doorway, looking nervous.

"Want to help me with the flowers?" she asked with a smile. She really hoped she said no. Eri seemed to kill any plant she touched.

"I'm just worried." she admitted with a sigh.

"It's only been a week." Rin pointed out.

"I just…" she paused and looked to the forest which lay only a few yards from their house's back door. "I just thought…What if something _does_ happen to him. How will we know? Will we spend our whole lives wondering?"

Rin stood up and brushed off her skirt. She walked to her sister's side and pulled her into her arms. "Come on, Eri. We know papa. Do you know of anyone stronger? Anyone more capable?"

"No." Eri said unhappily.

"Then don't worry." she said with a smile. "He has an excellent horse, years of experience, and more life in him than I've seen in a long time."

"Yeah." Eri nodded as she smiled slowly. "You're right. Papa has gone on trips like this before. This is no different. He'll be back soon and when he gets here we'll be-PAPA!"

Rin jumped at Eri's shout. Not a moment later, her elder sister ran from her arms and took off like the hounds of hell were at her heals to toward the forest.

"Wha-?" Rin blinked. Coming out of the shade of the trees, leading an exhausted looking horse, was her father.

"Papa!" Rin shouted before running after her sister.

She had to lift her skirts so she wouldn't trip over them as she chased after Eri.

Papa looked up, his eyes tired and glazed. Then a look of surprise crossed his face as he saw them running to them as if he was completely shocked at seeing them.

"Am I home?" he whispered to himself. Hope was running to him, a look of total joy on her face and tears running down her face. Beauty was after her, chasing her skirts, worry written all over hers.

How had he gotten here so fast? He barely remembered a step. The horrible voice, that awful clawed hand, the ears on that girl's head all filled his head. Gave him waking nightmares. He wasn't even sure he slept. Had his horse?

"Papa? Papa!" Hope was suddenly next to him. Her hands on his face, her voice in his ears. She looked so scared at the look he wore.

"Hope?" he asked and put his hand over hers on his cheek. "Are you real?"

"What?" she asked as Beauty appeared at his other side. Her eyes traveled over his face, trying to find what his problem was. "Papa? What happened?"

"I'm home." he smiled weakly and collapsed into his daughters' arms.

* * *

><p>"Shh! Shh! He's waking up."<p>

Jon groan and opened his eyes and escaped from dreams with flashing claws and thunderous voices.

"Papa? Are you okay?"

His Hope, his Grace, his Beauty; they all stood around his bed looking down at him in worry.

"Yumi, go get the water." Beauty instructed.

Grace nodded and turned away from him and walked away.

"Can you hear me?" Hope asked, pushing a stray strand of whispy white hair out of his face.

"Hope." he smiled up at her. "I'm home?"

"Yes, papa. Yes. You're home." Hope smiled sadly.

"What happened to you?" Beauty asked, her voice full of worry.

Rin watched with unease as her father's sweet, slightly confused expression, turned slowly to one of horror and absolute fear. The color drained out of his face and his lip started trembling as his eyes stared at the wall. But not as if he was seeing it, but as if he were seeing through it to some unnamed terror just beyond.

"The rose…" he gasped.

"What?" Rin asked as he had said it to low for her to hear.

"The rose!" He looked at her in shock. "Beauty, where is the rose?"

"I planted it." she smiled reassuringly. Once they had laid him down, she saw the rose clipping clenched firmly in his fist. She had smiled at his devotion and pulled it from his grasp to plant. She was sure that seeing the freshly dug dirt still wet from being watered would make him smile. But she learned differently when his face seemed to…melt in on itself and his eyes darted from side to side, as if chasing a fly around the room.

"Oh, no….No. No! NO!" he shook his head violently making Eri grab at his shoulders.

"Papa? Papa, what's wrong?" she asked as her face pinched in worry.

"Too horrible." he said sadly as he sat up slowly. "Just too horrible."

"What happened?" Yumi asked as she walked back in with a pail of water.

"Tell us, papa." Eri said as she motioned Yumi over with the water.

It took several minutes before their father found the ability to work around his fear and speak.

"What?" Rin gasped. "What...What does that..."

"One of...us?" Yumi pointed at her and her three sisters.

"No." Jon said immediately, taking her hand in his. "I won't allow it." Like poison being sucked from a wound, telling his gruesome tale had seemed to heal him somewhat. He didn't look so horribly haunted now. Just determined. "I'll stay with you three as long as I can, then I'll return to that castle."

"Papa, we can't let you do that." Rin protested immediately.

"Absolutely not!" Eri agreed without hesitation.

"We'll move away." Yumi said helpfully. "Leave the village, go back to the city. Claude will take us in. We won't worry about it."

"Yeah." Rin agreed.

Jon smiled sadly. "That's my girls. But I'm afraid it wont be so easy."

"What do you mean?" Eri asked. "We just pack up and leave, we have until the end of the season, right?"

Yumi and Rin nodded in agreement.

To be honest, Rin wasn't really sure she believed him. Papa had never lied before nor had he any problems with hallucinations, even when he had been at his worst. But it was all too incredible to be true. Eri would believe him without question. If he had told her the sky was gold and the grass was purple she would believe him. Yumi would love the chance to be a part of something so exciting that, even if she believed or not, she would play along. But Rin just wanted to banish that look of fear from her papa's face. She never wanted to see such a horrible expression again on his kind, lined visage.

"But...What if we do leave and that...thing comes here? He would probably attack the village! Maybe even slaughter them all." Jon shook his head. "I have friends here. Precious friends. I won't let that kind of thing happen."

"And we can't let you die." Yumi frowned. "Not when..."

She trailed off but neither Rin nor Eri had trouble filling in the blank.

Not when we just got you back.

"What if I dig the rose out?" Rin asked. "That would stop it from blooming."

"I don't think it will matter." Eri sighed. "Come the end of the season, one of us will have to go to the castle."

"And it will be me." Their father said, standing up from his bed. "I'll make sure nothing hurts any of you. Not even some horrible demon like that man."

Yumi and Eri clung to his sides but Rin stepped back a little.

Why? Why did it have to be like this? Just when things were looking up.

One last spring...

Is that all they would have together?

Just one last spring.

Rin looked out the window and into her flower garden and saw the fresh brown earth she had dug just hours before. And to her shock, she saw tiny green shoots sticking out of the dirt already.

If she needed any confirmation to her papa's story, it was that.

No plant could already have sprouted but one driven by some unknown force.

"What's wrong, Beauty?" Eri asked, noticing her expression of shock.

"Look." Rin pointed out the window. "The rose..."

The three of them turned and gasped as they saw the proof of the wicked magic with their own eyes.

"No." Yumi gasped proving that, like Rin, she hadn't really believed. "That can't be possible."

"It's alright, Grace." Jon put a hand on her shoulder in hopes of comforting her. "At least we have one last spring together."

"No!" Yumi yelled before turning and running out the door ignoring her sisters as they called after her.

"Denial." Eri sighed as she turned to Rin. "Just like I said."

Rin sighed as well and Jon looked sadly between his two children.

"Girls, please." he said unhappily. "I know this is...hard. But, at least we get this opportunity to really enjoy our lives together."

"This isn't right." Rin said as tears pooled in her eyes. "This isn't right at all!"

"Beauty!" Eri gasped as Rin crumpled to the floor. She had never seen her sister lose all hope like that. Not even when they had first fallen from grace. "Sis." She dropped down beside her and pulled her into her arms as Beauty's tears triggered her own.

"I'm sorry." Jon whispered sadly to no one. "This is all my fault..."

It was hard to tell what Rin would have preferred. Her papa just never returning would have been awful. Never even being able to write finished to the question would have been torture. Always wondering, never knowing. Was he dead? Was he alive? If he was, why hadn't he come back? Did he get amnesia? Did he get lost? Would he ever come back? The constant questions, the only certainty being uncertainty would have been torture all on its own.

But this?

The knowing, the dreading, the countdown; it was terrible too. She knew, they all knew now, that papa would, once the seasons started to shift and the roses started to bloom, leave and never return.

Because the roses would bloom. They were growing alarmingly fast. Rin didn't even tend them, in the useless hope that maybe weeds or lack of water would kill them, but it never happened. They grew so fast that soon the flowers around them were eclipsed in their shade. Like the weeds that never grew around it, it just started taking over her garden.

And if she needed any further proof of what that rose bush meant, it grew thickest on the side that faced the forest. Like a plant reaching to the sun, it stretched to the forest. Growing according to its unseen master's wish.

Papa insisted on going about their lives until the time came, on spending time together.

Every night, just as when he had been sick, he had Rin read to him. Now, Eri and Yumi sat with him and listened with blank faces. She knew they were, as she did often, thinking about their father's impending doom.

He went flower selling with them and grocery shopping with Eri. He would brush their hair each night before they went to bed and tell them stories of his youth.

The saddle bag full of gifts given to him by the demon servant girl remained by the door for a few weeks. Untouched, unopened, unexamined.

Until their papa decided to open it and give Eri and Yumi the gifts they had asked for.

Yumi got two fine dresses. The first of red silk with white petticoats peaking out from beneath the skirt. Sewn into it with expert skill were small flower designs in white. The neckline was squared, a style coming into fashion, and the sleeves were tight on her upper arms before fanning out around her lower arms. The second was peacock blue with a shimmering green vest tight on the bodice. The dress, without the vest, was plain and unassuming without a real neckline or shoulder straps though it did have sleeves. The vest contributed the only real shoulder straps and was curiously patterned so that it resembled the ocean. Both looked stunning on her and fit as if designed for her.

Eri received 2 complete sets of jewels. A pair of citrine drop earring and matching pendent, though its citrine drop was considerably larger. The chain was silver and contrasted beautifully with the gems. The second set were made of amethyst and gold. The necklace was a fine web work of gold so fine it felt as if it would break under too much pressure. And like drops of dew on a spiders web, it was littered with sparkling amethyst gems. The earrings it came with were simple studs and its bracelet a series of gold hoops. Each piece was lovely beyond imagining and more expensive than could be believed, as were the gowns.

But all three of them knew they would never sell them. Even if they came from that terrible castle, they were the last gifts of their father.

Rin, after admiring her sister's gifts, looked out into the garden were _her's_ grew like a disease. Her gift would be her father's ruin.

The day after that, the first rosebud appeared on the bush.

For the next week, the weather got warmer, trees and flowers began blooming and blossoming as children began playing in the ocean. And the rosebuds continued showing up by the day like warts covering a crooked witch's nose. They were beautiful and delicate and red as blood. Softer than silk and more lovely than any other flower they had laid eyes on.

And despite, or maybe because of all that, they were the most grotesque things they had ever seen.

They still grew more on the side facing the forest, and that was where the first, and most, rosebuds appeared.

Yet they didn't bloom, not at all. As if they were waiting, like a sneaking army, to burst open all at once and show the family that it was time for the promised return of one of them.

Rin would never forget that day.

The day she came outside to water her other plants, still blatantly refusing to tend the roses, and all of them had bloomed.

Bees and butterflies danced around the sweet smelling fauna. It smelled like heaven and was more beautiful than an early sunrise over the water.

And the roses themselves were smears of blood across the dark green leaves.

And it was as if the house went into mourning.

Papa packed up a satchel with enough food for three days and nothing more. Eri and Yumi and Rin all huddled together on his bed and watched him with dark, pain filled eyes.

He moved with purpose, he moved like he was young again. They had all gotten their wish to see him better but it came at far too high a cost.

"Don't be so glum." he said with a fake smile after a small dinner of cold bread. They had not eaten. "I'll watch over you all from heaven with your dear mother."

Yumi hiccupped once but didn't cry. Eri did though. Rin just stared ahead, her face blank and emotionless.

"We'll sleep together, like we did when you were young." He said later that night as he laid some blankets down on the wooden floor. None of their beds were big enough for all of them.

Eri climbed in first and buried herself in papa's left side. Yumi, after a moment of hesitation, curled in on his right.

Rin looked at them all, with sad eyes and it took some convincing from Jon before she went to Yumi's other side.

"There." Jon said with forced happiness. "Once more night with my girls. What more could I ask for?"

Life, Rin thought immediately, but she didn't speak.

No one spoke again.

Eri fell to sleep first, after crying herself out. Followed by Jon who, after all, was still an old man. Yumi went not long after that.

But Rin stayed awake, staring out the window and up at the stars above.

She didn't want to see her papa go, nor did she want to see her sisters go. Eri wouldn't survive the forest, Yumi was still so young, if not in years then in heart. And they needed a central figure, someone to hold on to. That had always been papa, even when he had been sick.

Rin had decided long ago that she wouldn't let any of them go into the forest.

Even if that meant she had to go herself.

She stood up silently and gracefully so as not to upset her family.

Papa had already packed food for her journey and she silently thanked him, and apologized, as she put the satchel over her shoulder.

She had to be quick, she had to get deep into the forest before they woke up.

She snuck to the door, her slippers in her hand, and reached out for the knob. She only took one, last, lingering glance back, before opening it, taking her cloak off the peg by the door, and slipping into the night.

She paused for only a second, to pull on her shoes, before throwing the cloak around her shoulders and hurrying away.

"Beauty?"

The soft call stopped her dead halfway to the first of the forest trees.

She turned back and saw Yumi, looking at her sadly.

"Please tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing." she whispered.

"I have to." Rin said pulling up the cloak's hood. "I can't let you or papa or Eri go. Yumi? Please don't wake them up."

Yumi sighed. "Beau...Rin." Rin was startled by the sudden use of her real name. "I wish I was more like you. You're so brave."

"I'm not brave." Rin shook her head. "I'm...scared. Really scared. I want to run just like you suggested."

Yumi walked up to her, her eyes downcast. "I've always been jealous of you, Rin. You've always been, like, the strongest out of all of us. When we first lost all our money, the only reason we even got a house was because a friend of papa's let us stay here. And I remember it so well. I guess it was about the day after we moved in. Papa just started getting sick, Eri was hopeless and I was useless. We were all just sitting inside, kind of like worthless collectables.

"Then I heard you outside. And I looked up and there you were, digging in the garden, planting seeds like you had done so all of your life. You looked so...competent so sure of yourself."

"I wasn't." Rin admitted. "I was nervous and scared and the only reason I could do anything was because I knew you guys needed me."

"That's why you're the strongest." Yumi smiled at her. "I know you'll do whatever you think is best. And...I wish I could be brave like you. I wish I could say I would do what you're doing. But it would be a lie. I'd be too scared. I'd never even make it to the castle."

"You can help me." Rin grabbed her sister's shoulder and looked her dead in the eye. "Grace, when Hope wakes up and tries to wake up papa, stop her. Don't let her wake him up. And when he does wake up, stall him as long as you can. I need time to get to the castle."

"I'll make sure no one follows you." Yumi promised. "Just..." she stopped. She wanted to ask her to promise her she would be okay. But she knew Rin couldn't make that promise.

"I'll be fine." Rin said anyway. "And who knows? Maybe this big, bad demon only wants someone to read him a story each night before bed."

Yumi laughed once. "Go. I'll stall as long as possible."

"Thank you." Rin kissed her sister's cheek, took one last look at her, before turning and running quickly into the trees.

The darkness wrapped around her like a winter quilt. And before Yumi could blink, Rin was gone.


	5. Through the Gates

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

...

**Chapter 5: Through the Gates**

The forest echoed around her, dark and mysterious.

Rin was careful about being quiet and moving quickly. There would be no point to getting eaten by some beast like the one that had chased her father. Especially since her family would pay the price for it.

However, the journey was, for lack of a better word, boring.

Her father's path had already been reclaimed by the jungle so she spent most of her time pushing back branches and underbrush. She didn't stop to eat, she didn't want to waste the time, so she ate while she walked.

The forest, despite what terrible things lay at the end for her, was very beautiful. The trees, forest giants, were so green! The leaves shined where sunlight shined through and the trunks were wrapped with flowered and not flowered ivy.

It wasn't until the second day that Rin realized, very belatedly, that she had no idea where she was supposed to be going. A compass wouldn't work, she knew from her father's story, and, just as he said, the trees soon grew so close together that she couldn't see the sky. And, more importantly, she couldn't see the stars to find her way.

"Well, this just stinks." Rin said unhappily as she put her hands on her hips. No way to tell where she was going and no idea where to go in the first place. "I really need to start thinking things through."

Honestly, when she left, she hadn't been thinking. Well, not about anything other than her families safety at least.

She sighed and leaned against a tree to rest for a second.

That first day she had been walking very quickly through the trees. Mostly she had been attempting to get as far in as she could so there was no chance her sister or father could get her back out. Unfortunately, that meant she also had no real idea of the direction she was heading.

"Hmm…" she looked around. "Ow." she turned her back against the tree and it rubbed against something sharp.

She turned and looked.

Three long claw marks were gouged into the wood of the tree. They looked fairly fresh.

Rin laughed nervously. Whatever made those marks had to be huge!

She walked quickly away from the tree and felt butterflies start dancing in her stomach. Was that caused by whatever chased her father? Oh, she hoped not. Or, if it was, that it was long gone now.

Over three hours later, with the sun sinking in the sky Rin collapsed at the base of a tree.

"Great." She sighed as she slipped off her shoes and rubbed her aching feet. "How do I even know I'm going the right way?"

She knew she was talking to herself, she knew it was probably a bad habit to pick up, but she couldn't stop. Not like there was anyone else to speak to and she was on her way to her death. That kind of made her nervous. And when she was nervous, she talked. And, with no one to talk to, she talked to herself.

"I could use a sign!" she said to the echoing jungle. "A hint? Anything?"

There was no response, she hadn't really expected there to be, and she sighed.

"Good job, Rin." she said to herself as she pulled out the last of her bread from her father's stolen satchel. "Go and get yourself lost in a dark forest while trying to find the madman who wants to kill a member of your family for taking a rose. What _are _you going to do next? Who gets that mad about a rose anyway?"

She tore an angry bite out of the bread and chewed. "When I thee 'im, I'm 'oin' 'ive 'im a piece of my min'." she said stubbornly.

Then, he will probably kill me, she thought to herself. The anger drained from her and she swallowed sadly.

Would this really be the last sunset she ever saw? Would this be the last day she lived? Would she never see or hear her sisters speak again? Would her father never hold her again?

Rin tried to fight the lump that formed in her throat and refused to let the tears fall from her eyes.

No! This was the fate she had chosen. She would be brave for her family. She would meet this 'him' without fear, with her head held high! No way would she cower before him or beg for her life!

"Who am I kidding?" she looked at the last piece of bread, her last meal, pitifully. "I'll cower, and I'll beg. But, at least it will be for my family."

She didn't sleep well that night.

Line breaker

Rin woke with a groan and her hand immediately went to her stiff neck.

"That's what I get for sleeping against a tree." she moaned as she rubbed away the kink.

Her last morning.

Rin sighed and stretched before standing up.

She froze when she heard a twig snap.

"Who's there?" she demanded to know as she turned her head quickly from side to side. Please, not a monster. Please, not a monster. Please, not a monster.

"It's okay. I wont hurt you."

Rin turned to the sound of the voice just as a girl stepped out from behind a tree only about a dozen feet from her, her hands up and palms forward to show she had no weapons.

Rin relaxed as she looked her over. "You're the girl who took care of my father, aren't you?"

Surprise flashed across her face before she smiled pleasantly. "Yes. I'm Kagome. How did you know?"

Rin would have known even if she hadn't said her name. How many women had dog ears and claws, after all.

Her father was right, the girl did look extremely sweet. Her smile was kind and her eyes were gentle. There were a pair of slashes on her cheeks, slashes with jagged edges that looked, somehow, angry despite her lovely demeanor. She wasn't wearing a cloak, but she did have on the same dress her father described. And, she could see them peeking over the edge of her fingers, the very same claws he mentioned.

"Why are you here?" Rin asked with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"The master asked me to lead you to the castle." the girl smiled. "He said you were lost out here. How he knew that I'll never understand."

"Master…" Rin whispered under her breath. "The man who…"

"Who threatened your father." the girl finished though there was no way she should have been able to hear her from where she was. "He didn't meant it, really. Master is a…complex guy, but he's not a _bad _guy."

Who was she trying to convince? Rin couldn't help but think. She looked like she really meant it, but Rin wasn't as inclined to forgive such a…a…bad guy.

She couldn't even cuss in her mind on the day of her death. How sad.

"Come. The castle is this way." The girl beckoned.

"Great. I almost walked right past it." Rin sighed. She really didn't want this death to come so soon, but she had no choice.

"Don't worry. Master wouldn't let you die out here. That's why he sent me." Kagome smiled at her and Rin couldn't help but smile back. Kagome was unexpectedly…nice. So kind it was almost infectious. Rin supposed there could be worse people to lead you to your death.

"So, which daughter are you?" Kagome asked when Rin joined her side and followed her deeper in the forest. A direction Rin had chosen not to follow because it looked too overgrown. "Hope, Grace, or Beauty?"

"I'm Rin." She said simply.

"Rin?" Kagome blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry. I must have forgotten-"

"Beauty." Rin said giggling at the look of horror on Kagome's face. "I'm Beauty. But my real name is Rin."

"Rin." Kagome said and smiled with relief. "Nice to meet you."

Rin smiled but couldn't honestly say the same. After all, this girl was leading her to her doom.

"Did you like the rose?" Kagome asked suddenly. "Well, I mean, of course you didn't. How rude of me. I just meant that-"

"It was beautiful." Rin felt the need to sooth her for some odd reason. "The ones that came from it, even more so."

Kagome nodded as if she expected no less. "I am sorry about all this. Master can be…unreasonable at times."

Rin looked at her oddly. Despite this 'master' being an obvious jerk, Kagome seemed determined to stick up for him, to make sure Rin thought something good of him.

"But it's not his fault." Kagome assured her. "He's not all bad."

Rin smiled but again said nothing. She really didn't want to like this girl and yet she found herself feeling more and more sorry for her.

"He even had me come fetch you. Wasn't that nice?" the girl smiled at her brightly and Rin saw two little canines poking just over her bottom lip.

Rin smiled back painfully.

Kagome noticed and frowned. "Sorry. I guess this hasn't been a few good days for you, huh?"

"They're not my favorite memories." Rin admitted with a humorless chuckle.

"Master did give you a few extra weeks with your family." Kagome said, brightening again. "Doesn't that prove he's a nice guy?"

Rin decided not to point out that it was the most painful spring of her life.

Kagome fell silent and Rin was glad. If she wasn't paying attention to Kagome, she could imagine her sisters and father were there, guiding her, encouraging her. The image brought the lump back to her throat and she swallowed it before it could take control. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't!

Kagome led the way gently pulling back briar patches and tree branches that got in the way. She was patient with her, never seeming to mind that Rin was moving very slowly. Much more slowly, in fact, than she really had to. As if it knew it was doomed, her heart was beating fast now. Trying to fulfill its lifetime job in only the time it had left.

She hoped the castle was far off, she hoped it would take at least a few hours to reach it. A hope that was in vain.

It took barely an hour to get there

Rin was climbing over some particularly high roots of an enormous tree while Kagome waited sedately. She tripped and nearly fell but regained her balance in time to look up and see the castle.

Unlike her father, who only saw it at night, she saw it in the setting sun. She couldn't tell what it was made of, but whatever it was, the brick was very dark. It had four spire like towers sticking straight up into the sky, the tallest one being nearly in the middle. Surrounding the castle was a brick wall at least twenty feet high. Unlike the lovely stone of the castle that had been meticulously put together, it looked rushed and hurried and messy. And Rin could see, even from the distance she stood at and through the trees, the giant claw marks that resembled the ones from the tree she had leaned against earlier.

"It's kind of messy." Kagome said apologetically.

Rin tore her eyes from it and looked at her.

"I tried cleaning up a bit before you got here but, well, it's a big castle."

"Clean up?" Rin asked

"Come. Everyone can't wait to meet you." Kagome beamed at her and began leading the way again.

"Wait a minute." Rin shook her head in confusion. "What do you mean 'meet'? And why would you want to clean the castle?"

"You're our guest." Kagome said looking delighted. "It would make us very poor hosts to show you us at our worst. Well, not that we're at our _best _but still." She laughed sweetly.

"But…Aren't you just going to kill me?" Rin asked.

Kagome appeared to choke on her tongue. "Kill you? Goodness! Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Father said that this was punishment." Rin insisted. "He said one of us would take the punishment for the rose." Oh, no! What if the master went back on his word? What if, even now…

"The master can be a bit…stern sometimes." Kagome hedged delicately. "But, like I said, he's not a bad guy."

"So, I'm not going to be killed?" Rin asked making sure that she wasn't mistaken.

"Of course not." Kagome laughed. "That would make us terrible hosts. As I said, You're our guest."

"Uh…" Rin wasn't sure what to say. She had never thought she would live past this day. "But…the punishment?"

"Oh, that?" Kagome laughed nervously and Rin knew she was hiding something. "Don't worry about that. Master isn't mad, not really. He seems harsh at first but he's not a bad guy."

"You're really devoted to him, aren't you?" Rin asked seriously.

Kagome smiled honestly and nodded. "I would serve no other, even if given the option. He's not a bad guy, like I said. He's rough around the edges but so was my ma…husband when I first met him."

Rin blinked and wondered what Kagome had been about to say. "Husband?"

"You'll meet him. The whole palace is waiting for your arrival." Kagome held out her hand kindly.

"The _whole _palace?"

Kagome's smile faltered. "Well, master probably won't be there. But I wouldn't worry. You'll meet him."

When Rin still didn't move, Kagome frowned. "What's wrong?"

"This is a punishment, or it's supposed to be." Rin bit her lip anxiously. "But you're trying to make it sound like I'm going to stay at a fabulous inn or something. What's the catch?"

Kagome hesitated and lowered her hand. "I…I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Master is stern and his law is absolute. Aside from my m…husband, he's the greatest man I've ever known. And, he can be a bit unreasonable at times, but he means well."

"Kagome." Rin cut her off. "What's the catch?"

Kagome sighed. "You can never leave the palace. The castle is your home now and you may do whatever you wish. Except enter the master's wing…or…or leave."

"It's my prison." Rin clarified as she felt her stomach drop. Not death then. Worse.

"Don't think of it like that." Kagome said desperately. "It's a wonderful place and we'll all be your friends. Master may even forgive you and give you leave to go visit your family sometimes."

"But, bottom line, it's a prison." Rin said dully. "And this is the punishment for my father's crime."

"I wish you could understand." Kagome rubbed her upper arm as if she were embarrassed. "Those roses mean everything to master. And I swear, he's not as bad as he seems."

Rin sighed. "It's okay. I've agreed to pay the price and accept the punishment. And, hey, it could be worse right?" she smiled at her attempt at bravado.

"Yeah." Kagome nodded as she smiled back. "You'll see. It's not as bad as you think. You might even come to like it."

"You said, you will be my friend?" Rin found back the fear that formed in her belly. Fear that was both white hot and freezing cold.

Kagome was suddenly next to her, putting her arm around Rin's shoulders. It was only then that Rin realized how much taller Kagome was than her. She was used to being the same size as her sisters but, then again, her sisters were just as short as her. "I'll be your friend forever, Rin." Kagome smiled at her encouragingly. "Whatever happens, I'll be here for you."

"I appreciate it." Rin leaned into her embrace and, for the first time in a long time, she accept the comfort of someone else. Dropped her guard a little and let herself not be 'the strong one' or 'the brave one'.

"Come on." Kagome let her arm drop and hooked it around Rin's. "We're all your friends now and they can't wait to meet you."

Rin let Kagome lead her through the rest of the trees and towards the large iron gates.

The gates were black with age but not rusted. They looked strong and stable except for a large dent in the left one. They were standing wide open and looked into a courtyard filled with dazzling colors and intoxicating aromas.

At the end of the cobblestone walkway was the giant door her father had mentioned. It was wide open now and in it stood the forms of four people and two smaller ones at the ends.

With Kagome at her side, Rin walked through the gates of her new home, her prison, and stepped forward with all the bravery she could muster to meet these people.


	6. The Master of the Castle

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

Hey, hey, hey, hey! Now wait a minute, I shall explain when I am damn well ready and not one chapter sooner! I like the mystery and I like the intrigue and yes I am a little proud of myself and that doesn't happen often. Patience and have a little more trust. I don't want all the mysteries solved right away. Oh, yeah. And no more demands! You can wait just like everyone else and find out the truth later!

Also, this isn't called Beauty and the BEAST it's Beauty and the DEMON. He doesn't have to be ugly.

**Chapter 6: The Master of the Castle**

"Entire castle, meet Rin. Rin, the...well, most of the castle." Kagome brought her forth proudly and Rin did her best to smile.

"Hi." Rin smiled in what she hoped was a convincing way as she looked them over and Kagome introduced them.

"This is Inuyasha. My...husband." Kagome pointed proudly to the man second to last on the left.

"Yo." Inuyasha smirked at her, not in a mean way but in a rather...cocky way. He had long silver hair, unbound and unadorned, that flowed all the way down his back. His eyes flashed gold and his ears were just like Kagome's only silver to match his hair. He stood like he grinned, with arrogance. A sort of self assured air hung about him that Rin rather envied. "I helped your father out that night." He winked. "You need anything, I'm here."

Kagome smiled and nodded happily. "That kid next to him, that's Shippo. He's…I guess our adopted son is what you would call him."

Standing on the very end was a tiny fox like child. His nose was cutely pointed and his hair was ginger red. His skin was covered in a thin layer of flesh colored fur and his bottle green eyes sparkled with mischief. He even had a bushy tail poking out of a hole in his trousers.

"Hi!" He grinned up at her and, she noticed, he had two tiny canines in his mouth just like Kagome and Inuyasha. "Will you play with me?"

"Uh, sure?" Rin blinked at his tail when it twitched in excitement and resisted the urge to squeal. He was so cute…

"On Inuyasha's other side, that's Kouga." Kagome pointed. "And, in his arms is Kirara."

"Hello, pretty lady." Kouga grinned wolfishly at her. Very wolfishly, Rin noted. He had a tail, a pretty brunette tail that was smooth and slick unlike Shippo's. He didn't have dog ears but the ears he did have came to a sharp point. He had long canines too and wore no shoes. His black hair, a direct contrast to the brown fur of his tail, was long and bound in a ponytail behind his head. In his arms was a tiny cat, she looked even smaller by laying in Kouga's large hands. She was colored like cream with dark rings around her paws and her…two?…tails.

"Kirara is in charge of keeping the rodent problem down." Kagome smiled at her and Rin felt oddly like she was saying 'see how normal we are?'

"Sorry I didn't meet your father." Kouga laughed. "I miss all the good stuff and dog breath here has all the fun."

"Tough luck, flea bag." Inuyasha sneered back. However, there was no hostility in their exchange. It was more like the playful teasing between brothers. And, for some reason, there seemed to be a slightly…sad undertone.

"And that's Ayame." Kagome pointed to the red head next to him.

"Hello." Ayame grinned. She looked wolfish like Kouga but slightly more…human. Her eyes were a startling violet, very light but piercing as if she could see into your soul. She had her red hair up in pigtails that, despite her being a full grown woman, didn't look childish. "I'm Kouga's fiancée."

"You are not." Kouga glared. "I told you no a million times."

"Deny it all you want Kouga, doesn't change a thing." Ayame smiled happily as if nothing could please her more than his denial or the look of annoyance on his face. There was a story there, Rin was sure of it.

"This is Ah-Un. He's the master's horse." Kagome indicated to the fourth form just as happily as she had the others.

"A horse, huh?" Rin said in disbelief. He didn't look like any horse she had ever seen. He looked more like a two-headed dragon with a black mane and muzzles.

"Yeah, when the master chooses to ride." Kagome looked insecure as if realizing for the first time that Ah-Un wasn't really…normal. "And, this is uh, Jaken." She said quickly indicating to the second small form.

"Pleased to meet you." The thing said and Rin had to remind herself it was rude to stare.

He looked like a toad and still nothing like a toad. He had green skin and he was very small, only a little over two feet. And there was something different about him, something besides the blazingly obvious, that separated him from the others. "Master will be pleased you have accepted your punishment."

"Jaken!" Kagome hissed. "We must make Rin feel welcome here!" She said it like she was repeating words she had already repeated countless times.

"She's being punished." Jaken said in a very snobbish way. "The master says so and his word is law. It's what she get's for her father's thievery and in the face of our master's mercy and goodwill."

Kagome glared darkly at him and Rin watched without comment. "It's that sort of thinking that got us into this!" She growled.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha snapped.

Kagome blinked, shook her head, then smiled at Rin. "Sorry. Uh, Jaken is the master's most devoted follower. Though he can be a bit dense at times."

Rin said nothing then realized what it was that separated the little toad-thing. While the others all dressed simply, casually, he dressed impeccably. He dressed as if he were a real palace servant and eyes were always on him. Though, clearly, that wasn't the case.

"Oh, uh…" Rin jumped when she realized everyone was looking at her, expecting some kind of response. "It's nice to meet you all. Thank you for being so kind." She bowed her head awkwardly, unsure how to react.

Kagome beamed. "You're welcome here. Now come, we'll give you a tour."

"Don't forget the rules!" Jaken cried obnoxiously as they all filed into the large doorway.

"Why do you think we're giving her a tour, dumb ass?" Inuyasha kicked him as he walked in.

"Insolent! You're lucky the master puts up with you-"

"Shut up." Kouga kicked him as well when he followed.

"Is he alright?" Rin asked anxiously as the toad started to look dizzy.

"Oh, he's fine." Kagome assured her. "He get's worse from…So how about that tour, huh?"

"You were about to say the master, weren't you?" Rin asked.

"Told you she wasn't stupid." Ayame told Kagome. Kagome glared at her over Rin's head before turning back to Rin.

"Master isn't a bad guy. He's just…stressed." Kagome bit her lip. "Honest, he's really very kind once…you…"

Rin smiled. "Don't worry. I'm not mad at him. I wont be, seeing as you're so against it. But, can I ask one thing?"

"What?" Kagome looked at her cautiously.

"What's his name?" Rin asked then nearly laughed at their blank faced looks. As if each of them couldn't imagine someone not knowing the masters name. "It's like, all of you are so careful not to say his name. Is he really that terrifying?"

"No." Kagome said quickly. "He's busy. We don't want to attract his attention unnecessarily."

"So, I don't even get to know my captors name?" Rin asked trying not to frown. What was with this castle? And how could they get his attention just by speaking his name?

"Hmph!" Jaken scoffed. "Insignificant barbarian. The master of this castle is great and wise. He's powerful and unquestionable. His leadership is undeniable and his greatness is outmatched only by his wisdom. You speak of the all mighty Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Sesshomaru." Rin repeated slowly. It sounded…dangerous.

"_Lord_ Sesshomaru!" Jaken corrected as he gave her the evil eye.

"Lord. Sesshomaru." Rin repeated apologetically.

"Can we stop saying his name now?" Ayame asked dryly. "He might get angry."

"Ayame's right." Kagome smiled. "Let's just go on the tour, shall we?"

"Lead the way." Rin smiled back. Kagome was very likable despite the fangs and claws.

"This way, this way!" Kagome walked her into the large entrance hall.

"Wow." Rin said, impressed at the architecture. "This is a huge hall."

"This was once called the Grand Palace." Kagome said proudly. "There was no building anywhere that could match it."

"I can see why." Rin smiled at it. It was grand but rather dark. It didn't look neglected, instead it looked like someone had cleaned in a hurry.

"Over this way is the grand dining hall…" Kagome took her through a side door.

It took nearly the entire rest of the night to get most of the palace visited.

The grand dining hall was a long room decorated in soft browns and maroons. The table inside could fit at least 100 men or more but it obviously hadn't been used in a long time. Through another door in that room, they entered the second dining hall. It looked lived in and, by the comfort the others had in there, Rin could guess that it was where they usually ate. It was nowhere near as big or grand as the first one but it was homey and cozy.

Beyond that was a kitchen that also looked used. It was old fashioned, very much so, but it was functional. And big. Way too big for the few people who lived here.

After that, Rin got to see the abandoned servants quarters and the back courtyard that held a still working well. Everyone had moved into their own rooms in the palace so any part of the servants quarters being used was used for storage.

They passed a large door at one point but they didn't go in. Kagome said it was the ballroom but hadn't been used in ages.

That was when she got her first rule: Do not enter the ball room.

Immediately after that, she got her second rule from Jaken: Do not enter the West Wing. '…even I, his most loyal blah, blah, blah…'

Other than that, she was free to roam.

Everyone else had a bedroom in the East Wing, which is where Rin was shown to her room.

"Me and Inuyasha sleep here." Kagome said pointing to a door as they passed. "Kouga and Ayame are across from each other at the end of the hall. Jaken sleeps in that room over there. Shippo sleeps in the next hall over. Kirara changes rooms every day and this is your room." They stopped in front of a door halfway between Kagome and Kouga's rooms.

"Go on, open it." Ayame grinned. "It took two days to get it ready for you."

Rin smiled at her and nodded. Feeling nervous but not like she was intruding, she opened the door and stepped inside.

It was clear they had gone to some trouble to make the room ready for her arrival. While it was easy to tell that the rest of the palace was old and most of it was unused, they had taken care to make this room nice.

The bed was large, twice as big as the one she had before her family lost their money. It had a gossamer canopy hanging from bedposts that reached to the ceiling. There were more pillows of different shapes and sizes than she had ever seen and the thick comforter was turned down in preparation for her use.

"We stocked your closet. Hope you don't mind." Kouga laughed as he walked in.

Rin followed him slowly. The paint on the walls didn't look faded or dusty and the carpet had been cleaned.

On the opposite wall was a large window rimmed in colorful stained glass that must have cost a fortune. In one corner there was a writing desk with a quill and ink on top. Opposite the bed was a large dresser. Kagome opened it with a flourish and revealed to her the gowns hanging inside it.

"It's beautiful." Rin gazed at it appreciatively. "You went to all this trouble for me?"

"Of course." Kagome smiled brightly at her. "Come on, let's leave her to get settled."

"Later, Rin." Inuyasha winked at her and left with Kouga, both of them joking about a game of some kind.

"Can't wait to get to know you." Ayame waved. "Hey, guys! Wait up!"

"Master will be needing me." Jaken left sedately after her.

"So, do you need anything?" Kagome asked happily.

"No, thank you." Rin sat on the bed and nearly purred at the softness of the mattress.

"Alright. Well, it's getting late." Kagome started to the door. "I guess we'll see you tomorrow?"

"Absolutely." Rin smiled.

"There should be a nightgown in your dresser."

"Thank you."

Kagome grabbed the door and stepped outside. "Just yell if you need anything."

"I will." Rin laughed at Kagome's desire to please.

"Goodnight." Kagome shut the door softly and Rin heard her footsteps retreat.

Rin took in a deep breath and looked into…her room.

"My room." Rin whispered to herself. Her room for the rest of her life.

She sighed and stood up to go to the dresser and get the nightgown Kagome mentioned.

It was a two piece nightgown, a style that had long gone out of fashion. The white skirt was long and held onto her waist by a light purple ribbon. The shirt looked more like a chemise and tightened under her breasts by another light purple ribbon. It was made of something like silk and felt like heaven on her skin.

For prison, this place wasn't so bad. She would miss her family, but her father was right. At least she got the chance to say good bye.

* * *

><p><em>Eyes watched from her window. Gold and distant yet powerful. They were set in an unseen face that rested on a body that blended into the dark.<em>

_Like a shadow, the figure eased into her room, quiet and stealthy yet with an assurance as if the figure knew that this was his place._

_It stalked silently around the bed and looked down at her, sleeping and oblivious._

_He reached out and pushed a strand of hair out of her face-_

Rin gasped and shot up in bed as thunder crashed outside her window and lightning lit up her room for a half a second.

She reached up and felt along her face. The dream felt so real, as if someone had actually touched her. Even now her skin was tingling at a foreign touch.

But no, it couldn't have been real.

She looked out her window but it was too dark to see anything however she could hear rain lashing at the glass.

"You are awake."

Rin jumped and looked into the darkness of her room. The voice that had spoken was deep and dark. Powerful but quiet as if the speaker was the kind of person who didn't have to raise his voice to be heard.

"Who…you're…" Kagome said there was only one person she hadn't yet met. So this must be… "Lord Sesshomaru."

"Correct."

Lightning flashed again and illuminated him. He stood at the foot of her bed, tall and handsome. She couldn't see his coloring because of the sudden flash of light then dark but when she lightning faded she could still see his shape in the darkness. He was very tall.

"Uh…thank you for sparing my life and that of my father's." Rin said nervously as she pulled the blanket up slightly. The reason the two piece nightgown went out of fashion was its habit to reveal the wearers stomach without shame. She had no idea what else to say to him. She felt it, she felt why Kagome had such fearful respect for this man. Just by standing there he had already taken over the room.

"Which daughter are you?"

"Rin." she said immediately. "Thank you for providing such a place for me."

"It was Kagome's doing, not mine." he said without emotion. I hope you follow the rules better than your father."

"I will…my lord." she said after a moments hesitation. He was the master here, she would have known it even if Kagome hadn't said his name.

"Kagome, in her haste to make you fell welcome, has left out a rule." he said not acknowledging her submission to him. "You are never to leave the castle grounds. Never step one foot out of the gate or you will regret it. Do you understand?"

"What?" Rin looked up in alarm. "But, Kagome said-"

"It matters not what she says. I am the master of this castle. Now, do you understand?"

Rin looked down sadly. So, Kagome was wrong, she would never get permission to visit her family on good behavior. However, this was still better than death. "Yes, my lord."

"I am not a cruel master." he said. "I don't care what you do as long as your obey the three rules given to you."

Without being told to do so, because she knew he would want her to somehow, Rin repeated, "Never enter the ballroom. Never go into the West Wing. Never leave the palace grounds."

"Beyond that, you may do as you wish." he said.

"Thank you, my lord." Rin bowed her head. She felt so small compared to him.

She felt a hand on her chin and her face was suddenly being lifted up. She couldn't see him in the dark but she felt his eyes on her.

He stared for a few moments and neither of them spoke. Then, just as suddenly as he was there, he was gone.


	7. Out of Time, Out of Options

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

Sorry for the long wait, I lost my internet again. Forgive me :)

**Chapter 7: Out of Time, Out of Options**

The blurred line between dreams and reality had never seemed so undefined to Rin before. Had last night been a dream? A nightmare? Or could it be possible that it had been real? Had she really just met the master of the castle.

Rin couldn't sleep after he left, who could have? So she sat in bed and stared at the far wall as the rain pounded on. Had she dozed off? She must have because before she knew it she was opening her eyes and sunlight was pouring into her room.

She narrowed her eyes at the brightness as she sat up and looked around. Nothing was out of place, there was nothing to suggest something had come in from outside, so could last night have been a dream? But could dreams be so real?

She reached up and touched her chin, even now she could still feel the warmth of his skin on hers, the latent power in his touch.

No, it couldn't have been real. There was no way.

Her eyes traveled to her bedside table and she felt the air freeze in her lungs.

Laying on the smooth wood surface was a single, perfect, blood red rose in full bloom.

Not a dream.

Was the rose a threat or a welcome?

Now she knew what her father meant when he said there had been so many more questions than answers.

Rin jumped when someone knocked on her door.

"Rin? Are you up?"

"Y-yes." she called back as she pressed a hand to her racing heart.

Kagome opened the door and looked in. Rin saw her freeze as her eyes darted quickly to the foot of Rin's bed but it only lasted for a half a second. Just as suddenly as she stopped, she was walking in and smiling.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Rin opened her mouth to tell her about her midnight visitor but hesitated. Somehow, last night had felt incredibly intimate and she felt as if she shouldn't say anything. So, instead, she said, "Very well. And you?"

Kagome nodded. "I did. It was a great night." There was a strange sparkle in her eyes, as if she hadn't had such a good night in a very long time.

"I came to tell you that me and Ayame are going to start breakfast and ask if you wanted anything,"

"Oh, I can help." Rin threw off her blanket and smiled brightly as she stood.

"No." Kagome shook her head. "You're our guest. We must treat you as such."

"Then let me do what I want and help." Rin walked to her dresser. "Just let me get dressed."

"You don't understand the term 'guest', do you?" Kagome asked with a smile.

"If I don't do something I'll go out of my mind with boredom." Rin assured her as she reached into the dresser and grabbed something without looking.

"Well, Inuyasha and Kouga are going to be out hunting for dinner later and probably wont be back until late." Kagome said. "So it will probably just be us girls today."

"What about Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked without thinking. She saw Kagome's eyes dart to the foot of her bed again.

"Master has already eaten." Kagome assured her. "We won't see him."

It didn't escape Rin's notice that she was completely sure about his absence. This castle held so many secrets.

"Do you need help getting dressed?" Kagome changed the subject fluidly and distracted Rin from her thoughts.

"Goodness, no." Rin shook her head. Even when she had been rich she hadn't liked being dressed by her maids.

"Then I'll wait outside to take you to the kitchen."

"That's alright." Rin assured her as she looked at the dress she had picked. "I remember the…What is this?"

"A dress?" Kagome said confused as she followed Rin's gaze.

"No, this is a gown." Rin held the pink satin gown with light purple petticoats up. "It's far too fancy to cook in." She looked in the dresser at the other dresses for the first time and blinked in confusion. The others dressed simple and plain with no attempt at impressing others. However, they had stocked her closet with nothing but fancy gowns of silk and lovely dresses of breathtaking colors.

She reached up and opened one of the drawers on the side and wasn't all that surprised to see it full of glittering gems.

"Kagome? What is this?"

"You're our guest." Kagome smiled. "Besides, me and Ayame don't wear that kind of stuff so we thought you might want to.

"For what purpose?" Rin asked. These were clothes clearly intended to be worn to impress someone, to flatter the wearer. "Especially if I am going to help with the work."

"What work?" Kagome asked. "The only thing we do around here is cook and clean occasionally."

"What about the gardens?" Rin asked. "Someone has to be taking care of those."

"The master allows no one but himself to tend the gardens." Kagome said. "He's very peculiar that way."

"So you don't know why he does it?" Rin asked.

"I never thought to ask." Kagome shrugged and looked away and Rin could see the lie on her as easily as if Kagome had screamed it out loud. Even if Kagome never thought to ask, she clearly knew why.

"So, what _do_ you do around here?" Rin resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Kagome shrugged. "Play around, defend the castle, watch the boys be idiots. We pretty much take each day as it comes."

"Defend the castle?" Rin repeated. "From what?"

"Oh, um…" Kagome looked like she realized she said something she hadn't meant to. "Well, that is…uh…"

Rin sighed. "Look, I know everyone has secrets but do you have to have so many?"

Kagome blinked then smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"Is there anything you will tell me?" Rin asked as she put the pink dress back.

Kagome bit her lip. "I know we're being bad and not telling you much but…well…um…"

"Another secret?" Rin asked with a sarcastic smile.

Kagome sighed. "I didn't think this would be so hard." she mumbled to herself but Rin heard her.

She sighed as well and reminded herself that it wasn't a prisoners right to question her captors. "Never mind. I guess I'll just…get dressed." she looked again at the extravagant gowns.

"Then I'll meet you down in the kitchen." Kagome smiled, obviously relieved at the sudden end to the questions and left with a small bow.

Rin's shoulders slumped unhappily and she turned to look out her very large, very expensive window. The stained glass on the edges really made it beautiful and lit up her room in an almost divine fashion. And somehow, it was suffocating.

She missed her family. She missed her life. How could it be that such a simple life could be so appealing among all this splendor.

Rin sat on the edge of her bed and felt the tears well up in her eyes.

Freedom, such a simple word yet she knew it wasn't hers to claim anymore.

Her flowers and the simple joy that came from tending them was denied to her for she couldn't even care for the gardens here.

Listening to Yumi mumble in her sleep and her father's gentle snores was forever gone because she was trapped here in these long empty halls.

Being able to go where she pleased wasn't an option, not with the restrictions on her movement.

Escape wasn't even conceivable, not with a captor that moved like the shadows.

She would never kiss her father's withered cheek again, never hold her sisters again, never see the blue sky not shadowed by her beautiful prison.

Somehow, in that moment, with the elegant dresses waiting for her and the cushioned bed beneath her, everything hit her with the weight of a brick.

No father...

No sisters...

No leaving...

No freedom...

No more.

Rin stood and walked to the window and looked out onto the green lawns and the high brick walls surrounding them. Her prison was beautiful and inescapable.

Her lip quivered and a lump blocked her throat.

Don't cry Rin, she told herself. She had chosen this after all. This fate saved her father and village.

What would her family be doing now?

Yumi would be brave in her own way and keep them from following her. Eri would cry her eyes out, Rin just knew she would. And her father, oh her father…

What would happen to papa now that his daughter was gone?

"Papa…" Rin moaned and sank to her knees as tears welled up in her eyes.

Eri...

Yumi...

Papa…

Rin caved in on herself as the weight of her heartbreak finally reached her. Without realizing it, she had completely fallen, her forehead to the carpet and her knees tucked under her as the grief burst forth.

Why couldn't she have died? Death would have been better than this torment. Alone, forever alone. Kagome kept secrets, they all did. And while Rin was kept in the dark she was kept away from everything she knew.

This castle wasn't even full of people, just demons. Demons from nightmares and fairytales that had big smiles and bigger claws. Trapped forever in this place. Trapped in an abandoned castle without anyone to lean on. No one to hold when she needed it. No one to trust.

Rin didn't realize how much noise she had been making until a pair of gentle hands were grasping her shoulders and moving her head to a strong shoulder.

"It's alright, Rin." she heard Inuyasha say comfortingly. "I know it's hard. I'm so sorry."

Rin cried out in pain as she felt the horrible shredding of her heart.

More arms wrapped around her until she felt warmth on all sides and soft voices whispering condolences and assurances.

They couldn't know, they were a family that hadn't been ripped apart. They couldn't know this pain so why did they insist that 'they knew'?

XxXxXxX

"I told you." Ayame said in the kitchen hours later. Rin's sobs had wracked her body until she finally sank into a restless sleep.

"I know, I know." Kagome sighed and drank her tea. Tea that they had tried to give Rin to calm her down but she would have none of it. In fact, she had knocked it out of Kagome's hands and spilled it all over the floor of her room. "Better it happened sooner than later."

Inuyasha had to change his shirt as Rin had pretty much drenched it. "Sesshomaru's being stupid." he said. "If he thinks this will change anything…I mean she's being forced to-"

"Forced to nothing!" Kagome said firmly. "We say nothing to her so she won't be 'forced' at all."

"That's not what I meant." Inuyasha said. "I meant, if you think holding her prisoner will help us you're wrong."

"Prisoner was Master's idea." Kagome said. "I would rather have her willingly."

"No one would be here willingly." Ayame said. "But Inuyasha's right. Being a prisoner will elongate everything. I mean, it might not even happen but being a prisoner will just make her miserable and uncooperative. We don't have time. Kouga's…" Ayame stopped and looked down sadly. "We don't have that kind of time."

"We also don't have any choices." Kagome said firmly.

Inuyasha put his arm around Ayame's shoulder and held her close. "I know how you feel. Kagome will be next."

"I will not!" Kagome snapped angrily.

"Calm down." Inuyasha barked sharply.

Kagome took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I will not." she repeated calmly. "Rin is the one, I just know it. It might not even happen to Kouga.

Ayame fought back tears and nodded. "You may be right."

"I am." Kagome said firmly. She changed the subject abruptly to keep Ayame from further sadness, "Has Master come back yet?"

"No." Inuyasha said as Ayame composed herself. "He's still out there. This wont work if he's never here."

"He was here last night." Kagome said. "I caught his scent in Rin's room this morning. He had come to see her."

"Really?" Ayame blinked. "That's unusual. Usually he just avoids us."

"He has good reason." Kagome said firmly. "But if he just keeps staying out of everyone's path we wont ever get them together long enough for it to happen."

"We wont ever convince him it will happen." Inuyasha said. "He's given up and you know it."

"Even if he has, I haven't." Kagome said firmly.

"What about Kouga?" Inuyasha asked. "Sesshomaru always stays home more when we're on the edge. If we can have Kouga to stop fighting it-"

"No!" Kagome growled. "Out of the question! Can you imagine the consequences on him? On Ayame!"

"I know." Inuyasha frowned. "I would rather not have him give up either but if it works he'll be back to normal before you know it. We all will."

"If it works." Ayame felt her grief crushing her again. "But if it doesn't..."

"I'll do it."

They gasped and looked up as Kouga walked into the room.

"No!" Ayame jumped up and ran to his side. "You can't! If it doesn't work you'll be gone forever!"

He smiled sadly and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her delicately pointed ear. "And if it does we'll all be saved. We're the last Ayame. If we don't do something soon the curse will be irreversible."

Ayame tried to fight the tears back but couldn't stop some from dripping from her dazzling green eyes.

"But…but…I…"

He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "We'll do everything normal tonight and I'll let it take me. Tell Sesshomaru I've reached the end and he'll be back. I'll drag it out as long as I can to give them as much time together as possible."

"No…" Ayame started shaking.

Kagome was crying silently, her head turned away. Inuyasha looked down at the ground, his hands balled into helpless fists.

"See, this is why I refused to mate you." He chastised with a smile. "So you wouldn't have to say goodbye."

"I still will." Ayame's voice was muffled as her face was buried in his chest. "I love you, Kouga."

He said nothing but held her close.

XxXxXxX

She had been crying. He could smell the sharp scent of tears in the room and he could still see the tear stains on her face.

Her sleep wasn't restful, she tossed and turned as he watched. Every now and then she would say 'papa' or mutter her sister's names.

She was delicate and tiny. So fragile, like spun glass. Hers wasn't a loud and obvious beauty, no it was as delicate and pretty as her. There was nothing obviously lovely about her but her face was striking and perfect. Like a forest nymph, enchanting and joyful. At least, it had been. Now it was etched with misery and depthless grief.

He knew he was to blame for that but still he couldn't, and he wouldn't, change it.


	8. In the Daylight Hours

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

Sorry for the long wait, I lost my internet again. Forgive me :)

**Chapter 8: In the Daylight Hours**

Rin jumped and shot up in the darkness.

She looked around in terror.

The night was peaceful and it took her a second to realize why she had so suddenly awakened.

The night was dark and clear, not a cloud in the twinkling sky and she was warm in comfortable in her bed. But her heart was racing and she icy chill of fear was still sharp in her belly.

A second later she heard it, the same sound that had pulled her so harshly from her already fitful sleep.

A howl echoed through the castle. A long wail that sent chills down the spine. It was the kind of howl one would hear from the wolves on a full moon night only darker. Rin curled into a ball on the bed as the long, horrifying noise shook her down to her core.

Just as suddenly as it started, the sound stopped.

Rin started shaking in fear and wished her door had a lock. She had no idea where the sound came from, why it was there, or exactly what had made it, but she feared it on a primitive level.

She sat back against her headboard as another wail started up. Bone chilling, it rang out in the otherwise calm night.

Rin closed her eyes and clapped her hands over her ears but the noise couldn't be shut out. It was everywhere around her and the mind numbing fear brought tears to her eyes.

The sound stopped again just as a strange scent filled her room.

Rin looked up and peered around but nothing in her room had changed. However, surrounding her was the scent of fresh rain and…roses.

Automatically, Rin's eyes darted to her bedside table and she saw, without much surprise, another red rose.

With a shaky hand, she reached out and grabbed it. Just as her fingers circled the stem, another howl began in the darkness.

She brought the rose to her and smelled the delicate scent.

This wasn't a threat, she knew that without being told. This rose was a comfort, in a way. Don't fear the sound, it said, for I'm here.

She also knew without being told exactly who it was from. And, she couldn't say how she knew this, but she knew with complete certainty that a moment ago that rose had not been on her table.

XxXxXxX

The next day, no one said a word to her about the howls that had haunted her that night.

Kagome came happily into her room, a beaming smile on her face and not a hint of worry in her eyes.

"Hungry?" she had asked.

"Not really." Rin had replied.

"Well, come down if you need us." Kagome had said sympathetically.

Then she had left, leaving Rin alone.

Rin, for her part, didn't mind.

Kagome hadn't remarked on the sound meaning she either hoped Rin hadn't heard it or she wasn't worried about it or both. Probably both.

But Rin couldn't shake that sound. Even now in the daylight, it echoed in her mind. She hadn't been able to go back to sleep, who would with that terrible wail? So she knew exactly when it stopped. Just when the light of the sun began to brighten the horizon.

There had been no sound the night before last. What had changed?

Rin sighed as she sat in the chair at her desk and looked out the window. The two roses she had received sat on her lap.

Both were perfect, though one was wilted slightly. The older rose had bloomed and opened its magnificent petals to the world. The other, while not a bud, had yet to completely open so it was cupped. They were both red as blood and the dark green of their stems was healthy and well cared for. The one who had given them to her had carefully gone over the flower and removed all thorns from it. Was that proof of him caring? Or were all these roses just meant to keep her on her toes?

She was so confused. She wanted nothing more than to have everything clear and concise before her.

However, it wasn't meant to be.

Laughter floated up to her room and she looked up in surprise,

She stood and went to her window and looked out.

Down on the ground, tossing a ball around was Inuyasha and Ayame. Shippo was running between them, trying to catch the ball before it got to either of them while Kagome laughed and cheered him on. They were many stories below her but Rin heard them nonetheless.

She watched them for a few minutes without really thinking. Her eyes still felt heavy from all her crying yesterday and her lack of sleep last night. Her body felt weighted down and heavy. She wanted nothing more than to crawl back in bed and stay there until death carried her away.

She shook her head and backed away from the window.

What was wrong with her? She had never had such morbid thoughts before? Such thoughts and self pity wasn't like her! Rin had never faced a challenge that she hadn't met with a smile and enough determination to move a mountain with her own two hands.

What would her sister say if she saw her like this? Oh yes, brave Rin sniveling in her pajamas in a glorious, though slightly rundown, palace.

This wasn't her at all! Rin faced the world without fear, especially to help her family!

This place was her home for the rest of her life. These people were her companions for the rest of her days. She needed to stop moping because it really could be a lot worse.

She was going to be here for the rest of her life, she might as well make the best of it! And, by kami, no one was going to say that Rin hid from everything under her covers and refused to live because of this.

XxXxXxX

Kagome forced a laugh from her lips as Inuyasha and Ayame played keep away with Shippo. He laughed breathlessly as they tossed the leather ball around. He was having a great time, a smile on his face. He didn't seem at all bothered by the sounds last night.

"Huh?" he stopped suddenly, his eyes on something behind Kagome. "Rin!" he laughed and abandoned the game to run to her.

Kagome turned quickly, surprised. Had she recovered so quickly? Inuyasha and Ayame followed her gaze as well.

There was the sound click of shoes on the ground as Rin came out of the great hall and into the courtyard.

She had put on one of the gowns in her dresser. The very same pink one she had looked at with disdain just yesterday. She had a string of shimmering white pearls around her neck and a matching one circling her wrist. Her dark, silken brown locks were down and carefully brushed. Draped over them, looking expertly placed, was a spider-web like hair piece made of pearls. Her make up was perfectly applied and she carried herself just like a princes. However, most beautiful of all, was the smile she flashed happily at them.

"Hi, Shippo." she said then 'oomph'ed as he jumped into her arms.

"Are you here to play with me?" he asked, his cute green eyes shinning brightly.

Kagome was about to speak up, point out that no one could play in that beautiful gown, but Rin spoke up first.

"Yup." she pet his ginger hair nearly melted at the sweet smile he gave her. "What shall we play?"

"Well, hello gorgeous." Inuyasha said as he walked up next to her. "And don't we look all beautiful today."

Rin blushed and laughed. "Thank you. I've never worn anything this…glamorous before."

"It suits you." Ayame said as she and Kagome approached. "The pink really looks good with the pearls. Nice choice."

"Yumi loves dresses and Eri loves jewels." Rin shrugged. "Between the two of them I know more about fashion than I really want to." She giggled softly as the others watched her carefully for any sign of the breakdown from yesterday.

"I think it's perfect." Kagome's eyes shined as she looked Rin over. "You look marvelous."

"Thank you." Rin ducked her head shyly. She was about to ask about last night but she just couldn't bring the words from her lips. Instead, after a deep breath to steady herself, she asked, "So, what do you do around here?"

"We were just playing Shippo in the middle." Inuyasha beamed. "Want to join us? It's really easy."

Rin opened her mouth, about to say yes, when her stomach let out an embarrassing growl.

She blushed red as Kagome and the others laughed good naturedly at her.

"I guess I should eat first." Rin smiled back. Upon thinking about it, she realized she hadn't eaten since she left the forest. Misery had dulled her appetite.

"Come on then!" Kagome said excitedly. "Let's get something for you to eat!"

"Ayame, is something wrong?" Rin said when she saw Ayame's face when Ayame was looking into the palace. She looked…nearly as miserable as Rin felt.

"Huh?" Ayame blinked then beamed at Rin. "Nothing. Sorry, I guess I was just lost in thought."

Inuyasha was suddenly there, with his arm around her shoulder. "You think too much." He smiled at her, but Rin saw a certain sadness in his eyes too. Another secret. Why were there so many secrets?

"Rin's hungry." Ayame put her arm around his waist. To Rin, it didn't look so much like a companion's embrace as she was leaning on him for support. Why was Ayame so…sad?

"Shall we then?" Kagome laughed happily. "Rin, you will love the food here. Ayame is the greatest cook in the world."

"Well, not to brag." Ayame joked with a smile.

"Let's go." They started walking away but Rin didn't move.

"Rin?" Inuyasha said as they stopped and looked back at her. "What's wrong? I thought you were hungry?"

"Where's Kouga?" Rin asked.

Those two simple words had a profound effect on them.

Ayame flinched as if someone had raised their fist to punch her and the horrible, haunted look came back in her eyes. Inuyasha's head dropped and his ears drooped sadly. Kagome bit her lip in worry and looked away and Shippo started to blink away tears.

Rin felt a curious sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Guys, where is Kouga?" she asked again.

"Kouga…" Kagome started but couldn't speak.

"What happened to him?" she asked, yet somehow she knew. Those howls…

"He's…" Ayame started but couldn't force the words past the lump in her throat. "He's…" she tried again but her voice cracked and she began crying.

"Don't worry about it." Inuyasha forced a smile. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

"What happened to him?" Rin asked again, her voice harder. She didn't want to live with these secrets for the rest of her life.

None of them looked at her, none of them said a word.

"Why wont you say anything to me?" Rin grumbled unhappily as she pouted. "I can't stand all these secrets!"

"They wont say."

Everyone jumped and Rin turned quickly at the sudden, unfamiliar voice.

She suddenly felt…tiny. Almost completely unnoticeable. Yet he was staring right at her.

She had been sure, that first night, that the darkness had added to his power and mystery. Yet here he was, standing here in the daylight and still he was…overpowering.

The sunlight did what the quick burst of lightning had not, revealed the true master to her.

His hair was silver, much like Inuyasha's yet somehow brighter. Almost like it was the sunlight and was producing it's own light. His eyes were gold like Inuyasha's as well, and again so very different. His eyes were not just gold, but burning gold. Like the sun itself, glowing and shining and, if you spent to long in its beams, you would find yourself burned. His face was strong and unforgiving, sharp like a blade and cold like ice. He didn't have dog ears but ears on the side of his head. They came to a point much like Kouga's. And across his cheeks were the same purple slashes that Kagome had.

On his forehead, almost like a sign of his superiority to the others, was a crescent moon shaped mark in the same purple as the slashes. Around his shoulder was a large furry…something. Was it a tail? It was bright white, fluffy and somehow didn't take away from his overwhelming masculinity.

"Master." Kagome said in shock. "I thought you were out again today."

"I heard Kouga." he said, his eyes still staring deep into Rin's.

She had to remind herself to breath. This…man, he couldn't be real. No way such…power could come from just one person. Even in the bright light of the day, with the mystique of the night gone, Rin still had the urge to bow before him, to show him in some basic, primitive way that she was submissive to him.

"My lord." Ayame said sadly behind Rin. "He…he…"

"I know." he said without once looking from Rin.

"My…my lord." Rin bowed her head but immediately lifted her eyes to look back up to him. It was a strange mixture of fear and fascination that ran through her body.

He said nothing to her. He only looked for a second more before walking past her and into his castle.

It wasn't until he had passed her that Rin was able to draw breath back into her lungs.

When she got her air back, she turned around again but he was already gone.

How? How could he just look at her and make her feel so…strange? Never in her life had she felt so…trapped. She would obey any command he gave her, she couldn't lie to herself about that. She would obey like he held a knife to her throat and all he had to do was speak. It was a feeling that Rin had never felt before. It scared her and made her want to run. But how could she run from him? The only way she would escape him was if he let her.

She didn't realize she had sunk to the floor because her knees had given out until Kagome was beside her, kneeling down and checking to make sure she was okay.

She was saying something but the words were fuzzy in Rin's brain.

Sesshomaru wasn't a man at all, he was a demon! Even more demon than those that surrounded her now. Her head was dizzy because she hadn't breathed in his presence but that wasn't why her body felt so weak.

Why did she respond this way to him, did the others feel like this under his gaze.

Those golden eyes of his would haunt her forever. Closed off but still burning with an emotion Rin couldn't name. She knew the emotion, she knew it well, but somehow exactly what it was eluded her.

There were secretes in this place, all of them were kept from her. Yet nothing here disturbed her quite so much as the master of the castle. To affect her so with just one look? How could it be possible?

The daylight should have taken away from his mystery and power and yet it didn't. Somehow, it just seemed to add to it, to make it more obvious.

How could Rin live under such a man? How could anyone?

The blackness of unconsciousness was a welcome thing to her raddled mind.


	9. Howls in the Night

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

I didn't mean to! I'm sorry for the long wait for last chapter. I paid for my internet, a week later it broke and before we could fix it it got cut off again. I just recently fixed it and had to wait FOREVER to turn it back on. I swear, for those who don't know me well, I don't usually take this long to update. And, to prove it to you, instead of waiting out for more reviews like I usually do, here's the next chapter(that I wrote while waiting for my internet to get fixed and turned back on)!XDXDXD!

**Chapter 9: Howls in the Night**

Rin came to slowly. She had been moved to her room and tucked carefully into bed. She sat up, feeling stiff and uncomfortable. She looked down and saw she was still in the pink dress from earlier. Someone had removed her jewels and shoes but she was still wearing everything else. It was no wonder she wasn't comfortable.

She looked around and out her window into the darkness of night. Had she slept through the whole day?

She felt shame course hot through her veins. After promising to herself not to be weak anymore, she had fainted!

Rin jumped when a howl, the same from the last night, broke the silence of the night.

"Again…?" she whispered to herself.

"He can't help it."

Rin jumped again and her eyes shot to the corner of her room, by the door.

"My lord!" Rin put a hand to her chest because it felt as though it might beat right out of her chest.

He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed carelessly.

How long had he been there? Why was Sesshomaru spending so much time in her room?

More importantly, why didn't that creep her out?

"It's Kouga." Sesshomaru said quietly as another howl started.

"Kouga?" Rin repeated, her fear replaced quickly by curiosity. Why was he howling like this? Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him at all that day? What was happening in this castle?

"He's in the dungeons." Sesshomaru looked at the door as if the dungeons lay just beyond. "He's bound at his wrists, that's why he howls."

"Bound…" Rin said so quickly she might as well have just mouthed the word. "Why? Wasn't he your follower? Why did you throw him in the dungeons?"

"He did it himself." Sesshomaru looked at her again, his eyes completely emotionless.

"Kouga wouldn't want that!" Rin jumped to his defense. Kouga had been nice to her, why would Sesshomaru do this to him? "This is your fault!"

Rin jumped again and slammed her mouth closed. What was she doing? She was mouthing off to the single most terrifying person she had ever set eyes upon! Did she have a death wish?

"I won't deny it." Sesshomaru nodded once in acknowledgment.

Rin blinked in confusion. More…secrets? Or was he being intentionally confusing?

"What…?" she asked at last.

"Kagome would have me not tell you, given her way." Sesshomaru said simply. "However, I don't care if you know or not. I-"

There was another howl followed by a loud crash and the floor shook a little.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed slightly, then he was gone and Rin was looking around in fear.

She waited but there wasn't another howl.

Because it would make her feel better, she got up and ran to lock her door.

It wouldn't do much good if someone was determined to get in, especially not these demons. But still, it made Rin feel more secure.

She didn't care that she was still in her gown, she ran back to her bed and covered herself up like a frightened child. What she wouldn't give for something, anything, familiar!

A while later, there was another shake and, after another couple of minutes, the howling restarted.

Rin didn't sleep that night.

XxXxXxX

Though it didn't really surprise her, Rin was still a little worried that Kagome hadn't come with her usual morning greeting. Sometime after the sun rose, there was a knock on her door and, when she opened it, there was a breakfast tray laying outside.

She took it in and ate gratefully, starving. Her appetite was disappearing a lot lately, but finally seeing the food made her ravenous.

No one came to see her and no one laughed and played outside. What had happened last night? Somehow, she didn't really want to know.

Again, it wasn't surprising, but there was another rose waiting for her on her writing desk.

Because she needed something to do, after she put it in the vase with the other two, she began writing a letter to her father. She knew better than to think it would actually make it to him, but she wrote it anyway. It made her feel better, even after she put it away knowing it would never be sent off. She resolved to write her unsent letters more often. As a sort of healing experiment she supposed.

When she put it in the writing desk drawer, she found a journal. It was bound in red dyed leather and the parchment inside was thick and formal. Again, because she needed something to do, she wrote in it, to herself this time. Unlike her letter home, which had been full of reassurances and lies about the good time she was having, she wrote about her awful first few days. Then she pressed the first rose between the pages. It kind of felt important.

After that, she sat back and looked out her window for a while. Around noon, another knock came and Rin wasn't all that shocked to see another meal tray waiting for her.

It was funny, she hadn't been offered any food for a long time, now suddenly they were feeding her perfectly on schedule. It should have been nothing and yet somehow it just felt like another layer to this mysterious castle.

Well, she did have the rest of her life to find out.

It was like that for the next few days. They didn't come in, she didn't leave. It kind of felt like a stalemate on a battle field. Rin spent most of her time gazing out her window from her chair. If Sesshomaru still came to see her at night, she couldn't tell. There were no roses those nights which made her think he hadn't.

Watching out the window was soothing to her soul. Sometimes she thought she saw something moving in the forest but it was always gone before Rin could get a good look. About three days into her isolation, she saw wolves starting to gather at the front gate. At first it was just a few, then a whole pack gathered. By the time Rin got worried, Inuyasha went out and scarred them all away. Yet Rin knew they were still out there, waiting for something.

At night, the howls still rang out but they had taken on a more desperate tone. More like an animal in a trap than the terrifying nightmarish howls from before. She supposed it was because she knew their source now.

Somehow, her days alone weren't boring. In fact, it was a welcome relief. She was able to get her thoughts in order, get her emotions and loneliness under control. When she thought of the secrets all round her, she began thinking up reasons for them. She was sure they were all far from the truth but it still made her feel better.

Around the fifth day of her solitude, the customary noon knock came at her door but before Rin could get up to get her tray, Kagome came in bringing in both the tray and a happy smile.

"Evening, Rin." She said as if the last five days hadn't happened. "Have you slept well."

"Very well." Rin stood up and greeted Kagome with a smile, probably the first real smile she had shown in a long, long time, on her face.

"Great!" Kagome beamed as if she noticed the difference. "Have you liked the food?"

"It's delicious." Rin said as Kagome set the tray on the desk.

Kagome looked up and noticed Rin had moved the desk chair to the window.

"Ayame made it just for you." She said. "Sorry we've been neglecting you. We don't eat as much as you do and we've been alone so long we've forgotten how often normal people have to eat."

Though she said it in an offhand way, Rin grasped the sentence with both hands. It gave her much more information that Kagome had probably realized.

They had missed giving her food because they didn't eat as much. And, though Kagome probably wouldn't notice it, she had said 'normal people'. She hadn't made the distinction between human and demon that Rin made. Did that mean that Kagome and the others had been 'normal' at one point? And Kagome had said 'so long'. How long did you have to be a certain way before your forgot what it was like before you weren't that way? Years? Decades? This castle was very run down, how long did it take fore a castle to look as neglected as this one did?

And, most importantly, how had they changed? Why were they no longer 'normal'? Did this have something to do with Kouga and the howling?

She knew Kagome wouldn't tell her so she didn't bother asking.

"It's alright." Rin assured her as she took a deep breath and smelled the food. "To be honest, I wasn't actually that hungry."

Kagome laughed. "I imagine not. Your life was turned around bit. It's a wonder you can even think."

"I know you insist I'm your guest," Rin started, "but there has to be something I can do. I can't just sit in here everyday."

"I guess not." Kagome agreed reluctantly. "But I can't think of anything. We have everything pretty much covered."

"There has to be something." Rin insisted. "I'll go out of my mind if I have to sit in here alone everyday."

Rin sighed. "How about exploring?" She asked after a second of thinking. "This is my home, right? Can't I look around a bit?"

"We gave you a tour." Kagome said blankly.

"I know." Rin shrugged. "But I still get lost sometimes. I already know the rules. Can't I just wander a little?"

"Hmm…" Kagome bit her lip. "I _suppose_ it's alright. Just remember-"

"-the rules." Rin finished, feeling excited at her small victory. "I know. I'll be careful."

"Alright." Kagome smiled back. "I'll get back to work. You go ahead."

"Thanks!" Rin beamed. Then paused as Kagome left. She said 'work'? But Kagome had said that the castle didn't really need much upkeep. What had changed?

She put it on her ever growing list of questions and left her room gratefully. She had needed her days off but now she was back. Time to be the Rin her siblings would recognize and be proud of.

XxXxXxX

"She's bored." Inuyasha said as he watched Rin walk into the main chamber. She looked excited and not a little happy. She didn't notice or hear him from his position on the second floor overlooking the entrance hall and next to the grand staircase.

"She's found a way to entertain herself." Sesshomaru said, not looking. He was standing just out of sight, in the shadows if the hallway.

"No offense to your place, brother, but this castle is only interesting for so long." Inuyasha smirked as Rin opened a supply closet and jumped as a broomstick almost fell on her.

Sesshomaru didn't reply.

"You keep visiting her at night." Inuyasha said after a moment of silence.

"Your point?" Sesshomaru asked without emotion.

"I thought you didn't believe anymore?" Inuyasha turned his smirk on his brother.

"I don't." Sesshomaru didn't glance his way.

"So why keep visiting her?" Inuyasha laughed.

"…She's a guest." Sesshomaru turned and walking into the west wing, leaving his sniggering brother behind. Had anyone told him before this had all happened that he would actually appreciate his brother, he would have scoffed and had the person checked by mind healers. However, Inuyasha would be the last to go. Everyone else had already developed symptoms, even Jaken. Inuyasha would be the last and that meant only one thing…

XxXxXxX

"Rin?" Ayame looked up in surprise as Rin poked her head through a door that led to the servants back staircase.

"This leads to the kitchen?" Rin asked she walked out, her sky blue dress was slightly dusty, there was a cobweb in her hair and a candle in her hand. It wasn't surprising, they hadn't used the servant's stair in ages.

"Exploring, are you?" Ayame laughed as she stirred the beef stew that was for dinner.

"Yeah, Kagome said I could." Rin said, afraid she would get in trouble.

"I think there's a fork that leads to the armory a little further back." Ayame said. "Don't close the door if you go there, the armory is locked."

"I'll remember that." Rin smiled in thanks. "Wow, that's a lot of food. Is that all that for me?" The pot on the fire was huge.

"Huh?" Ayame looked at it in surprise then laughed. "Don't be silly. It's for everyone."

"Right." Rin laughed, feeling foolish. Kagome said they didn't eat much, that didn't mean they didn't eat at all. "Do you need any help?"

"Actually." Ayame smiled. "Can you stir this for me? I have to go get some vegetables from the yard."

"Sure." Rin walked forward, happy to be of any assistance as she set the candle she was carrying down on a counter.

"Just keep it from sticking to the bottom." Ayame passed her the large stirring spoon. "I'll be back in a flash."

Rin took it and stirred in delight as Ayame walked out. It was nice to be useful. Even when she had been rich, Rin had never just lazed about all day.

She had had fun that day. Exploring such a huge place would take a while and since she had the rest of her life, she took it slow and enjoyed everything she could.

In a hall in the east wing, there had been a gorgeous tapestry hanging from the wall that had been woven with gold thread and depicted a scene of a white and glorious palace.

It almost looked like the one she was in, only this one was gray not white and it wasn't nearly so happy. Besides that, the people depicted in the tapestry had been human, not demon. Maybe this palace had a twin somewhere? The concept wasn't unheard of.

Sometime before the sunset, Rin had found a large balcony about three stories from the floor and watched the sunset over the huge forest. It was kind of peaceful.

Not long after that, she had found the servant's staircase and taken it down here.

It was a great day, very peaceful. Even the howls had been silenced that night. That worried her for a bit but she remembered what Sesshomaru said. Kouga howled because he was bound, maybe he had been released. Perhaps she would even see him soon. That would be nice. He had a very nice personality, very down to earth.

She heard footsteps and turned. "Ayame, I was won-Kouga!"

"Hey, Rin." he smirked as he walked forward.

"Kouga!" Rin turned, the stew forgotten, and beamed at him. "I've been worried about you. What happened?"

"I've been in the dungeon." he stopped in front of her and looked down. "It wasn't pleasant."

"I heard." Rin thought of the howls, then smiled again. "But you're out now. That's great!"

"Yeah. Great." He smiled at her, a fang poking out from under his lip.

"Kouga?" Rin's smiled faded. Something was…off about him. And, she knew she only saw him a few times but…Did he look different? Even the air around him seemed different.

"You look good Rin." Kouga looked over her dress and up to her eyes. "Quite…lovely."

"Thanks…" Rin said slowly, backing up a bit.

What was wrong with him? He used to remind her slightly of Inuyasha. The air of self assurance around them was identical. But now…Now he was different.

"Your wrists." she said quietly, just noticing them. They were bloodied and bruised.

"They're fine." Kouga got near her again. "And you look…" he licked his lips quickly. "Just delectable."

"Kouga." Rin ducked to the side and backed away from him. He was standing in front of the fire and smiling at her in that creepy, not-right way. The fire brought to light of what he reminded her off. He seemed more like Sesshomaru now. Dangerous, deadly. Only different. Sesshomaru's power was tightly controlled, Kouga's felt raw. Raw and wicked. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing at all." Kouga stalked forward, stalked was the only word for it. Rin felt horribly like a deer caught in a wolf's gaze.

Rin swallowed as her limbs shook in fear. She wasn't fool enough to think she could fight Kouga off, for fight she would have to do. Kouga was…different now. This wasn't the same man who had welcomed her so warmly when they first met.

Could she outrun him? She knew Sesshomaru moved like the wind. Would Kouga be able to do the same thing?

"You know Rin, you just look so…good." Kouga's eyes were glued to hers. They were hungry. It wasn't the hunger of desire. No, it was actual hunger. He licked his lips again.

Rin's eyes caught the flicker of her candle out of the corner of her eye. She knew behind her was a door that led outside because Ayame had just left through it. Could she make it?

She didn't have a choice. She had to make it. Her body was charged up, ready for anything. She could feel her own latent power in her limbs, power she wouldn't need for anything except self preservation.

She took a deep breath, said a quick mental prayer to anyone who would listen, and acted.

Her arm shot out and grabbed the burning candle. Her sudden movement made Kouga jump.

He was fast! Had he jumped before Rin made for the candle, she wouldn't have made it. But Rin moved first and had just the split second advantage she needed.

She threw the candle, burning wick, melting wax, at his face. He howled out in pain as it hit his eyes. He stopped to claw desperately at his eyes as the all-too-familiar howl rang in Rin's ears.

She didn't stop to watch, her legs propelled her desperately out the door and into the dark courtyard.


	10. Desperate Chase in the Forest

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

...

**Chapter 10: Desperate Chase in the Forest **

Sesshomaru considered himself a reasonable man.

He wasn't fool enough not to notice the fear he inspired in others nor was he so virtuous that he didn't take advantage of that fear. He was merciless when provoked and could hold a grudge way past when it should have been dead and buried. More often then not, what others wanted meant little to nothing to him and he wasn't above using others to get what he wanted. And he in no way believed in giving second chances. So, it wasn't as if he didn't realize his bad qualities and his not-so-nice traits.

However, he did consider himself a reasonable man. He forgave others when they earned it and worked for it and he did his best by those who were sworn to him. He never did things unnecessarily and he listened to each side of an argument before passing judgment.

And, because he was so reasonable, he didn't consider any of the three rules he set for Rin to be wrong or unreasonable. So, as he stood at his window and he saw her run to the front gate, throw it open, and run out he growled in frustration and turned from the window.

Sesshomaru's room was elegant an immaculate. It was designed and suitable for one of his station. The empty, cold fireplace along the right wall was carved of white marble and simple but lovely. His window was nearly four times his height that also doubled as a door to the balcony. Sesshomaru had one of the few rooms with one. On the balcony was a very old fashioned telescope that he used to enjoy examining the heavens with but had long since rusted to uselessness.

His room was done in dark mahogany wood and gentle creams. Sesshomaru himself was dressed for bed, which was exactly where he was heading. He had never really liked elaborate clothing, especially when he slept.

He had billowing white sleep pants and a simple robe that was easily removed covering his bare chest. A chest that supported a single, ugly scar on his left shoulder about the size of his fist.

He didn't care that Rin had left. He had set forth the rules of his house and disobeying them resulted in punishment. In this case, the punishment would be dealt by the creatures of the forest itself. Kagome would be unbearable after this, and would probably blame him, but he really didn't care. If Rin chose to disobey then she would accept the results of it.

However, as he was reaching for the tie on his robe, his door burst open.

He glared at the intruder but Ayame ran forward, her face scared and not of him.

"My lord-"

"I know." he growled unhappily. "I saw her. Let her be."

"No, you don't-"

"No?" he growled and Ayame trembled slightly.

"You don't understand." She continued, determined. "Kouga escaped! He's chasing her, the only choice she had was to-"

"What?" his fists clenched without his permission. "Why didn't you stop her? Or him for that matter?"

"I tried." Ayame cried as tears of helplessness formed in her eyes. "But he's so much stronger than me now. I told Rin to run while I held him back but he was between her and the castle and the only way out she had was the forest. He threw me off after a minute and chased after her."

Sesshomaru looked closer and saw that Ayame had freshly formed bruises appearing on her arms and even on her face. She had, indeed, attempted to stop him.

"Where are the others?" he asked quickly.

"I haven't seen them." she wrung her hands helplessly.

"Find them!" he growled. "Now!"

Ayame turned and fled from the room and Sesshomaru turned to his window and threw them open with more force then he had intended and the glass in them shattered as they crashed against the stone wall.

He ran to the edge and jumped over in one graceful move.

As he fell, the wind whipping his hair and forcing his robe open, all he could think of was Rin. Why hadn't he damn girl screamed or something? Not that his sensitive ears enjoyed hearing screams but things like this could easily be avoided if she had simply yelled or something. Even now he heard no sound of her from the forest. That was probably a good thing seeing as crying out now would only result in unwanted attention.

Damn that girl!

XxXxXxX

Rin struggled not to breath hard but it was very difficult. Running and not taking deep breaths was painful and brought tears to her eyes. Tears that hampered her already bad vision as any light provided by the moon and stars was eclipsed by the large leafy trees all around her.

However, she had no other choice. She wasn't sure how well a man who looked half wolf could scent his pray but she knew how well her demon housemates could hear and see. So she took careful steps, as dainty as her well trained feet could handle. Never before had she thanked her poise and grace instructors for their repetitive and often annoying lessons but she did now. She would had to remember to thank them in her unsent letters if she made it out of this situation alive.

The prospect of which was looking more and more unlikely.

She could hear Kouga's maniacal laughing echoing in the forest around her, punctuated now and them by howls that were familiar and far more terrifying then they had been in the safety of the castle.

She knew running into this forest would be a bad idea, however she had no other choice. She was trying to double back, run in a big circle so to speak, and make her way back to the palace but she was sure she was just getting more and more lost. And, of course, memories of her father's tale about that thing that had followed him in here just made it worse. She wanted to call out for help but knew better.

Rin had never felt so helpless as she did now.

She was climbing over a fallen log when she heard the fallen leaves shift around on her right.

She turned and looked into the dark underbrush. She saw nothing but, after a moment, she caught a low growl on the wind.

Instinct, more than anything, told her not to run as she backed away slowly.

There was more rustling behind her, then to her immediate right as one, two more growls joined the first.

An image of the wolves crowded at the castle gate flashed in her mind as her body trembled.

Her fears were confirmed when one came out of the bushes in front of her, crouched low, snarling and growling with hunger in its glowing yellow eyes. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw more leave the cover of the forest as they circled her, surrounded her.

She didn't care that she was breathing hard now, nor could she stop herself even if she wanted. Her heart was nearly bursting forth from her chest as it beat almost in defiance of these things that wanted to kill her.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she reached down and picked up some leaves and dirt in her hand.

The wolves growled but didn't attack. They were saving her for their master, she could practically see it in on their canine faces.

However, Rin had no intention of becoming anyone's meal. She licked her lips in anticipation, readied her already tired muscles and sent up a quick prayer.

And, again, she through something into the face of a hungry wolf.

It yipped in pain as the dirt got in its eyes but Rin spared it no pity as she jumped over it and ran from the others that immediately restarted the chase.

From behind her, she heard many voices raise in one long howl.

She was panting heavily now as she tore through the bushes and pushed past the low tree branches. No longer did she care if she was loud. She had already been found. All that was left now was the chase and, though she didn't want to admit it, the inevitable catch.

But, no matter how sure she was of her fate, she still refused to just let them win.

When a low, thin tree branch got in her way, she pushed it back as far as it would go as she ran past and released it without apology. She was rewarded with a sharp 'thwack' and a pained yip.

"Rin."

She gasped when Kouga appeared suddenly at her side, and evil smirk on his face. "Can you please stop hurting my wolves, darling?"

She cried out and made a sharp turn that sent a jolt of pain up her ankle. But she ignored it.

"Oh, Ri-i-in." he called out playfully and Rin fought back tears of fear. He was playing with her, this chase was a game to him and an easy game at that.

Despite knowing that, or maybe because, she forced her tired legs to run faster. Her muscles screamed in protest at the sudden and continued abuse but her mind refused to listen. Brambles and thorns tore at her clothes and scratched at her skin but she refused to cringe or slow from the pain.

She cried out when a fallen branch tripped her and became entangled in her legs. She fell hard but before she could scramble to her feet and wolf was suddenly before her. From the dirt coating its face, she was pretty sure she knew which one it was.

Desperate, terrified, she grabbed the branch that had tripped her and swung it as hard as she could manage as the wolf.

It jumped and dodged it and she used to the moment to get back up and continue to run, the branch still tight in her fists.

She skidded to a stop, the same ankle burning with a sharp and sickening pain. Her path became blocked but a series of trees and vines that had grown too close together.

She turned and swung without looking and caught a wolf that had jumped in mid air. It yelled in pain as it flew to the side.

By the time it landed, Kouga was there, anger in his eyes. "Now, Rin. I asked you nicely to stop hurting my wolves."

Rin raised her branch, not noticing that she was trembling or that tears were coursing down her face.

"Kouga, please." she pleaded softly. "Stop this."

"I might have, dear." he smiled and his fangs glinted, were they bigger now or had Rin just noticed how completely scary they were. "But you hurt my wolves, and they're crying out for blood now."

"This isn't you." she panted. "You're kind, you're nice. What happened to you?"

"I suddenly got this really big craving for human flesh." Kouga licked his lips as he looked her up and down. She had a feeling that the blood that leaked from the many tiny scratches on her body were only increasing his hunger.

"Boys." he looked affectionately at his wolves. "Are you hungry?"

The wolves growled and ducked low, getting ready to pounce as Kouga looked back at her, amused at her fear.

"Kouga." Rin tried again. "Please, Kouga."

He hesitated and she saw a small flicker in his eyes. Anguish, a little self hatred as his wolves all turned their eyes to him in anticipation of his order.  
>"Rin?" he said her name almost shamefully. "Rin, forgive me. I-"<p>

A wolf barked sharply and the feelings vanished from his eyes only to be replaced by that dark amusement.

"Forgive me, but I just don't care." he smiled.

"Boys." his wolves turned their hungry eyes back to her and Rin's grip tightened on her branch. If she was going down she was going down swinging.

"Attack." he commanded and his wolves rushed forward, jaws open.

Rin swung and hit the first one to approach. But a second leaped for his throat before she could make another swing.

She closed her eyes, prayed it would end quickly, and thought for sure that the yip that pierced the night was hers.

But there was no pain and, when her eyes opened again, she saw no wolf lunging or snapping at her.

Instead, she saw Sesshomaru, only half dressed, throwing a limp and lifeless wolf away.

"Kouga." he growled as he placed himself in front of Rin. He was surrounded and half dressed and still looked regal and powerful.

"Sesshomaru, my lord." Kouga mocked. "Come to protect your bitch, have you?"

Rin's lost control of her knees and dropped to the forest floor as her muscles seemed to all deflate.

"Sesshomaru…" she whispered in relief but he didn't turn to her.

"How did you escape?" Sesshomaru asked calmly though Rin saw his muscles bunched up and tight in his back. There was also a scar on his left shoulder, big and round and ugly. What had scarred him, she couldn't help but wonder but the question was soon lost as her mind remembered where she was.

"Just broke out." Kouga laughed. "It wasn't hard, especially since I already did it once."

"You are banned from my castle." Sesshomaru said. "You are not permitted ever to return. Do you understand?"

"You know, I always thought it would hurt to hear those words myself." Kouga snarled at his former master. "But, it's actually kind of relieving, you know?"

"Leave this place now and I let you live." Sesshomaru continued as if Kouga hadn't spoken.

"Why should I?" he asked as more wolves emerged from the forest. "There are so many of us, and only one of you."

"Your mind has lost its good judgment." Sesshomaru said carelessly. "Leave now, you will not get a second chance."

Kouga smirked, not scared at all of Sesshomaru's threats. "Boys? Attack."

The wolves lunged again, fearless.

Sesshomaru, however, was much stronger than even a large pack of wolves.

Rin watched speechlessly as he swiped his arm quickly to the side and two wolves fell, dead, to the ground their underbellies stained red from their own blood.

Kouga howled in anger at the loss and the sound reverberated deep in Rin's bones.

All she could do was tremble as the chase caught up to her body and Sesshomaru dealt neatly with the wolves.

He was graceful as he attacked and he barely moved.

Once or twice a wolf would get close and Rin was sure that its snapping jaws would close on Sesshomaru's skin but he would make a barely perceptible move and the wolf would be thrown back.

When half the pack lay lifeless on the ground, Kouga growled in anger. "Retreat!" he snapped to his wolves. Sesshomaru just watched as he and the pack vanished into the undergrowth.

After a moment of silence, he turned to Rin and looked down at her.

"Are you hurt?" he asked emotionlessly.

Rin just blinked as the meaning of the words refused to register in her brain.  
>He kneeled down and looked her over. Her body was covered in tiny scratches but nothing too serious. Her knees and hands were scrapped raw and her legs were covered in angry black bruises. One ankle was swollen slightly, probably sprained. She probably didn't feel it yet but would undoubtedly if she tried to walk on it again.<p>

Without hesitation, he reached out and pulled her into his arms. He stood quickly and Rin threw her arms around his neck in surprise as he held her close to him.

His chest was warm, she thought dimly as he began walking through the woods. Her face was parallel with his scar and she spent her time examining it as her face flushed with embarrassment.

She was pressed against a man's naked chest! She had never even been held by a man before but here she was, being carried by one as if she weighed nothing at all. He didn't even seem to care that he was half naked and that she was holding onto him.

So she stared at the scar and told her racing heart to calm down.

"You were wrong to leave the palace." Sesshomaru said at last and the vibrations in his broad chest did funny things to Rin's belly.

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

"You should have called for me." he continued. "You were ordered never to leave the grounds."

"I'm sorry." she repeated and curled into his warmth as the fear and terror suddenly crashed on her like a tidal wave.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" she repeated over and over again as more tears fell from her eyes. The impropriety of it no longer matter, she clung to him as tight as she could as her body crashed and all the fear finally took its toll on her.


	11. Desicions Made

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

...

**Chapter 11: Decisions made**

"Good morning, Rin." Kagome beamed as she walked into Rin's room, a breakfast tray in her hands,

Rin turned from the window and smiled at her friend. "Good morning."

Kagome frowned. "I thought I told you not to get up without me helping you."

"And I told you that you were all blowing this way out of proportion." Rin beamed without worry. "I'm fine. Honestly, my ankle barely hurts at all."

"Not the point." Kagome admonished as she put the tray on Rin's desk. Since she saw that Rin had kept moving the desk chair from the desk to the window, she had a comfy arm chair brought in for Rin to look out her window from. That's where the girl was now. "Master was very angry at us you know. It's our job to protect you and we failed."

"I'm fine." Rin repeated as she rolled her eyes without any real heat. "A couple of scratches isn't a failure."

"But a twisted ankle is and running for your life is." Kagome shook her head at Rin's lack of care.

"It was sprained, not twisted." Rin smiled and let Kagome fuss. It was helping her cope with Rin's life or death situation so Rin didn't mind.

For the last few days, since her almost death, Kagome and the others had become fiercely overprotective. Rin couldn't move without one of them appearing and asking her what she needed.

As for Rin herself, she was over it. She looked down and smiled at the perfect rose in her lap. Every night since she had awoken to one, not on her bedside table, but on her pillow. Strange, they used to feel threatening to her. Now they were comforting, they told her Sesshomaru was still watching over her. And that in and of itself was even better than Kagome's fussing.

"You know, walking doesn't really hurt anymore." Rin started. "Can I go back to exploring."

"No." Kagome said firmly. "You aren't getting up again until I know for sure your ankle doesn't bother you."

"But I'm bored." Rin sighed. "My room is beautiful but isn't that interesting. Writing in my diary all day isn't entertaining at all."

Kagome stuck her tongue out stubbornly. "You should have thought of that before running off into the forest."

"I'll remember that next time." Rin laughed. "Come on. At least bring me a book or something! I'm going crazy in here."

Kagome laughed. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you." Rin sat back in her chair, careful of her ankle. Despite her protests, it still did ache a little. "Oh, how's Ayame doing?"

"She's fine." Kagome's smile turned sad. "She's working through it but we're all used to it by now."

Rin blinked, waiting for an explanation but Kagome seemed to realize that she said too much because she cleared her throat. "Well, I'll be getting back to work now. You try not to leave, okay?"

"You lock my door when you go." Rin reminded her as Kagome walked away.

"So glad you understand." Kagome beamed at her. "If I could trust you to stay here and off your feet, I wouldn't have to lock you in."

"See you at lunch." Rin beamed back as Kagome shut the door and Rin heard the thud of the lock falling into place.

She chuckled once and turned back to her window. She was pretty sure it was only Kagome and Inuyasha being this protective. Sesshomaru would probably consider it her business if she wanted to hurt herself more. Not that she would. She was bored, not stupid.

However, that didn't change the fact that he would visit her every night.

Rin held up her latest rose and sighed happily. She hadn't seen him since that night when he had deposited her in Inuyasha's arms then turned and ran right back outside. Upon asking where he went, all Rin was told was that he was 'out'. But just because she hadn't seen him, didn't mean he wasn't there.

If she called out for him, would he answer? And if she did, would he be angry? It was almost worth it to see him again. She didn't know why, but since that night, Rin had felt so much safer in his home. So much safer in his protection. If this is what Kagome and the others felt all the time she could see why they were so loyal.

She wanted to see him. It was as simple as that. And was that so wrong?

She brought the rose to her lips and touched the silken petals with her lips. She whispered his name to them, almost like a wish, and closed her eyes.

XxXxXxX

Rin knew when he got there. It was almost like a change in the air itself that announced his presence.

"You're awake." he said simply and Rin smiled.

She sat up and looked in the direction of his voice. She saw his shape in the very same corner that he normally occupied.

"I wanted to see you." she admitted. "I never properly thanked you. You did save my life and after I broke your rules."

"Considering the circumstances, I'm willing to forgive you." he said and walked forward.

Rin's heartbeat accelerated as he approached but he ignored her. Instead, he set something on her beside table. But it was far too big and made a much bigger thud than a rose.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Kagome said you wanted something to read." he said. "I've brought you some books from the library."

"Oh, I didn't mean to make you get them." Rin looked up at him. "I didn't mean to trouble you."

"No trouble." he said emotionlessly. "The library is in the west wing anyway."

"Oh." Rin lowered her head and felt her face flush for no reason she could place.

There was silence and, for a moment, she thought he had left. Until she felt his hand on her chin lifting her face up to meet his eyes.

Rin was reminded fiercely of the last time he had done such a thing and her heart rate increased again.

"What is it you want?" he asked although it felt more like he was speaking to himself that her. Still, she answered.

"I want only to please you, my lord." Oh, there she went again. The feeling to submit herself to him was overpowering her again. If the man wasn't so damn…dominating maybe this wouldn't keep happening! Then again, when she thought about it. She really didn't want it to stop happening.

"Only to please me?" he repeated. "That's a very different attitude than the one you had before."

"I didn't know you before." she smiled at him. She couldn't see his face but she knew he could see hers.

"And you think you know me now?" he asked and Rin felt a curious fluttering in her belly that slowly lowered itself to her groin. The way he said it sounded almost…dangerous. As if he was challenging her.

"I'd like to." Rin admitted. "I want to serve you as the others do."

"Well, I don't." he leaned down until his face was mere inches from her own. "Giving your loyalty to me is a very bad idea."

"Why would that be, my lord?" Rin asked, her voice breathy. He didn't touch more than her chin and still that alone was enough to set her body on fire.

"You should never have come here." he continued. "You should go back to fearing me."

"I do fear you." Rin said without thinking.

She saw Sesshomaru withdraw slightly and her hands immediately went up to cup his face. He could have easily broken free of her grip but he stopped and allowed her to keep him there.

"I fear not being able to please you." she continued. "I'm not like the others. I'm not strong or fast like Inuyasha. I'm not beautiful or skilled like Kagome or Ayame. I can't serve you the way Jaken can and I'm afraid I make a terrible work animal like Ah-Un and Kirara. But I'm still here for you, my lord. All I want is to please you. If there is anything I can do for you, all you need do is ask."

"Your loyalty is misplaced." he said firmly. "And your view of yourself is obscured."

"Thank you for saving my life, my lord." Rin let the pad of her thumb stroke his face. "If there's anything I can do to please you…"

"You don't know what you're offering." he told her but he didn't move back. "You're too young to understand."

"I may be young but I'm not naive." Rin said. "I know what goes on between a man and a woman."

"No you don't."

Rin yipped in surprise when he suddenly pushed her down and leaned over her on the bed.

"You think you know what happens between a man and a woman?" he whispered. "Do you really think you comprehend it?"

"I do." Rin tried to sound confident and mature but her voice came out far too airy and shaky for that.

"Do you now?" he leaned down let his lips hover just over hers. "Do you _really_?"

Rin tried to speak but couldn't make a sound. Sesshomaru wasn't even touching her and still she felt like her body was on fire.

"You want only to please me?" he asked, his voice deep and dark.

"Yes, my lord." Rin felt her eyes closing. She could feel the heat of his body right over hers. It was a nice feeling.

He chuckled darkly. "You really would, wouldn't you?"

Rin's eyes opened again and she looked up at him. "My lord?"

He leaned down and touched his lips to her neck and Rin's body trembled. "You're not ready, are you?"

Rin desperately wanted to say yes but her voice seemed to be broken again.

"You don't know what your offering." he repeated. "Do you?"

He caressed the skin of her neck with palm on one side and delicately kissed the other.

Rin's eyes closed again of her own accord and her head fell back to grant him better access. She had had no idea that the skin of her neck had been so damn sensitive. Her nerves were dancing and were his lips touched an electric shock shot straight through to her groin.

"My lord!" she gasped when his lips traveled up and touched lightly right behind her ear.

"The offer is appreciated, Rin." he whispered to her. "However, I will have to decline."

"Why?" Rin pleaded sadly as he leaned back and the sensations stopped.

She watched him through the darkness and, when he didn't respond, Rin got a little worried. "Did I do something wrong, my lord?"

"No. Not you." his hand traveled down her neck, her shoulder, and her arm before capturing her hand in his. He brought it to his lips and tenderly kissed all four fingers. "You should never have come here."

He climbed off of her bed and before Rin could protest, he was gone.

She sighed and fell back.

Damn that man! Making her feel these things one minute then disappearing the next. Didn't his father ever teach him to finish what he started?

Rin wasn't too young. She knew very well what went on between a man and a woman. Sex was a completely natural part of life and if she wanted to offer herself to him who could stop her? She was going to be here the rest of her life, who was she going to offend. Certainly not Kagome or Ayame who were both obviously trying to match her with someone, Sesshomaru being the only available man in at least a three days walk. Inuyasha wasn't the type to care at all and Shippo was too young to understand. Jaken might care but his opinion obviously meant little to nothing to others.

Rin took a deep breath and took in his scent which lingered all around her. It was a delightful mix of roses and man.

Rin turned her head and wasn't all that surprised to see a rose resting on her pillow. She reached out and took it delicately in her hands. She got one every night yet still each one seemed special and unique.

Kagome had been defending Sesshomaru since Rin arrived. She was constantly assuring Rin of his goodness. Rin was starting to believe that she was right. Sesshomaru hadn't once acted rudely towards her. Not even for a moment did he act as if he was going to harm her. He even saved her life.

Sure he was gruff and completely dominating. Yet those were qualities that Rin wasn't all that put off by. Weak men had never interested her. Maybe because she had spent the last year of her life looking after her frail and ailing father, but men who seemed to be completely in control and powerful never failed to attract her. Of course, those men were normally married and there was nothing there for her. However, he was one who had no woman in his life and no potential partners either.

Rin turned on her stomach and looked dreamily out her window.

Well, after all she was going to be here until she died. Why shouldn't she try to get close to him. Just because she was never aloud to leave didn't mean she shouldn't be able to enjoy being here.

Sesshomaru had no intention on wooing or courting her. Those actions before had felt strangely…final. And that silence before he left made her think he would never do anything of the sort again.

Unless of course, Rin wooed him. There was no law against it and Rin had never been one to just sit back and let the world pass her by.

Then it was decided. Rin sat up and looked down at her rose feeling completely empowered.

"Better watch out, _my lord_." Rin said to it. "I'm going to make you love me."


	12. Questions and NonAnswers

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha**

...

**Chapter 12: Questions and Non-Answers**

Kagome sighed as she traced circles on Inuyasha's bare chest. They were laying together in bed, their legs tangled up and their bodies naked with only the blanket and moonlight covering them.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked as he kissed the top of her head.

"Huh?" she looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"You sighed." he pointed out.

"A happy sigh." she buried her head in the crook of his neck and smiled sleepily. "I'm always happy with you."

Inuyasha let his claws travel down her arm. He knew her body better than his own, could see it even with his eyes shut, but he never grew tired of it. Not even after all these years.

"Don't lie to me." he said. "Something is bothering you. You might as well tell me."

Kagome sighed again. "It's everything I suppose."

"That's very unhelpful." he rolled his eyes.

Kagome sat up and looked down at her beloved mate. "Do you think we did the right thing? With Rin, I mean."

"Baby, this was all your idea." Inuyasha reminded her as he admired her body. Her never changing, forever young body.

"I know." Kagome sighed. "But with Kouga gone it all just feels so much…closer."

"Kouga chose his fate." Inuyasha frowned. "We all miss him but he's not the first we've lost. And if you're right about Rin we'll get him, and everyone, back soon enough."

"But what if I'm wrong?" Kagome insisted. "And what if Rin is susceptible to the curse? Getting closer to master will only be bad!"

"It's a chance we have to take." Inuyasha said. "Isn't that why you wanted Rin to be kept in the dark? So she wouldn't have to worry or force herself?"

"But that won't mean anything soon." Kagome frowned. "Kouga's gone so master will probably be out of the castle all the time now. He and Rin will never see each other."

Inuyasha pulled Kagome back into his embrace. "How about this. How about I take over Sesshomaru's job for a while. I can handle it as easily as he can. So he can stay here with Rin."

Kagome took a deep breath, taking in his scent. Him leaving would mean Kagome would hardly see him. No matter how long they had been together, she still could never get enough.

Inuyasha rolled over so he was above her and his silver hair creating a cocoon around them. "And when Rin and my stupid brother finally get together, we can finally start living. Me and you can settle down, start a family. I know how much you want children." His hand rested over her empty womb.

Kagome smiled dreamily. "In a way, I'm thankful for the curse. Without it, I never would have met you."

"True enough." Inuyasha leaned down and rested his forehead against his mate's. "I only want Sesshomaru to be as happy as I am. And for this curse to lift so we can finally start our family. So I'll go. You work on those two."

"She's perfect for him, isn't she?" Kagome smiled. "So happy and sweet. He visits her every night, you know."

"I know." he laughed. "I haven't seen him like this in…well, ever now that I think about it."

Kagome giggled. "She's good for him."

"She's good for all of us."

XxXxXxX

"Ayame, is Kouga with the others now?" Shippo asked. He and Kirara had taken up residence in her room these last few days. She had only stopped crying recently.

"Huh?" Ayame blinked down at him. He was curled into her right side, Kirara on her left. Their fuzzy bodies were warm and welcoming. "Kouga? Yeah. He's with the others." She smiled and pushed some hair out of his eyes. Shippo had been the last born before…

Before _that._

"Don't worry." he said with a bright smile, one tooth missing in front. It had been gone for a long time now and wouldn't grow back. None of their bodies grew or changed. "Kagome says that someday everyone will be back together again. Even my mom and pop. She says that she promised to take care of me until then."

Ayame nodded and made a noncommittal 'hmm'. How nice it must be to be forever a child. To Shippo, the world was always filled with childlike wonderment. His never aging body was trapped forever at around 5 years old. In a way, Ayame envied him.

"Kagome and Inuyasha always tell me about the time when we'll go back to normal." he crawled onto her belly and laid down, looking at her with his pretty green eyes. "It always makes _me_ feel better. Want to hear?"

Ayame laughed and began petting his hair. "Sure, honey. What do they say?"

"Um…" Shippo thought hard and the cutest expression came over his face. "Well, they say we'll all come back and live at the castle again. So that means Kouga too!"

"That's right." Ayame smiled. "And when everybody is back, we'll hold a big ball and everyone will come."

"And we'll all dance and dance and dance!" Shippo giggled and rolled right off Ayame's stomach in excitement. "And I'll see mommy and pops again!

"Uh-huh." Ayame nodded. "And next time, the ball will end properly. Not like…last time."

"I was sleeping last time." Shippo said. "I was supposed to be taking care of the horses and when I woke up, it was just me and Ah-Un. And Ah-Un looked funny."

"He's a dragon now." Ayame admitted. "But it doesn't matter what we look like on the outside."

"It matters what we're like on the inside!" Shippo jumped in joy.

Kirara raised her head and watched Shippo jump and laugh on the bed.

Yes, Ayame did envy him sometimes.

XxXxXxX

Rin looked up unhappily when her candle burnt out, leaving her in darkness. She closed the book she had been reading, a journal written by a commander in a long forgotten war, and stood up.

Her ankle no longer bothered her much, as long as she didn't use it too often. So it was no trouble walking over to her desk to grab another candle. It wasn't uncommon, now that she had things to read, for her to read well into the night and fall asleep in her favorite easy chair. However, she always woke up again back in her bed. She didn't need the rose on her pillow to know who did it.

Life at the castle was getting better all the time.

"Am I out of candles?" she grumbled as she leaned back and scratched at her ear. "I could have sworn I had some mo-" she cut herself off by yawning.

She stretched and decided to get more candles later. She should probably go to sleep anyway. To be honest, staying up so late wasn't just because she was really interested in whatever book she was reading at the time. She was also waiting, hoping, that she would see Sesshomaru again. However, no matter how late she stayed up, she didn't see him.

She was starting to think he was avoiding her.

Rin climbed into bed and lay back on her pillow. However, despite her being so tired, she just couldn't fall asleep.

She turned her head and looked out her window. The howls that had once pierced the night were gone, but now she was having trouble sleeping in the quiet. It was almost…eerie. Maybe because she knew Kouga was out there in the forest, his mind gone and unable to be the kind Kouga she had known.

When it was obvious she wasn't going to be able to sleep, she got up again and walked to her window. The gardens were beautiful, even in the moonlight. Even at the height she was at, she could make out some lovely white flowers that only bloomed at night. Her garden at home had never had those, it would be hard to sell a flower during the day that only bloomed at night. However, she had always thought them to be glorious.

Since she wasn't going to be able to sleep, she put on a warm robe and left her room. It was dark but her eyes had adjusted and she could make out shapes as she walked down the dark corridor.

Everything was quiet, peaceful. The only sounds were the light pad of her footsteps on the long rug that ran the length of the hall.

She kept walking, looking around. She hadn't yet explored deeper into the east wing.

After a while, she turned a corner and found herself in a long hall with big windows on both walls. She walked along them, looking outside. It was brighter in here, moonlight flowed in unobstructed.

The castle really was beautiful.

Halfway down the hall, she stopped and looked out the window. It gave her an almost perfect view of the garden below. She was so high she could see clear over the outer wall and well into the forest. For a few minutes, she imagined she could see all the way through the forest to her village. Did her family miss her? She was sure they did but she hoped they were continuing to live their lives happily, knowing why she had done what she did. Had papa continued to get his health back? Had Claude made it to the village yet? He had brought back money for the family so Rin was sure that they were doing better than when she had left. This solution had been best for everyone.

"Why are you here?"

Rin turned and smiled at Sesshomaru.

He stood not but a few feet from her, the moonlight making his hair glow much like the flowers in the garden below.

"I just wanted to take a walk." she said. "I didn't think I wasn't allowed."

"I didn't prohibit it." Sesshomaru said which Rin took to mean that she was allowed. "But you should return to your room. It's late."

"I couldn't sleep." she admitted. "Where do you go everyday?"

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow but didn't answer her.

"I'm just curious." she continued. "You're never here during the day."

"I go into the forest." he said.

"Why?"

"I protect the village."

Rin blinked in surprise. "My village?"

"Yes." he nodded once.

Rin turned her head curiously. "Why protect my village? And from what?"

"The forest extends all the way to your village." Sesshomaru said. "And the demons inside would take over in moments. Your village is the last of this entire kingdom. If I didn't protect it, it would be gone."

"My village is a part of your kingdom?" Rin repeated, surprised. "I always thought the village was a colony of sorts."

"No." Sesshomaru said shortly. "The forest has taken over every part of the empire, except for that small village. And, before long, that too shall be gone."

Rin was stunned. He was telling her so much more than Kagome would. Then again, he had said that keeping secrets from her wasn't what he was interested in. "Why?" she asked, wondering how much he would tell her.

"It is my punishment." Sesshomaru said, his face darkening. "The price for my arrogance and pride."

Rin looked at him but his eyes had traveled far away. "My lord?"

He blinked and looked at her, as if he had forgotten about her. "It's late." He said, covering for his momentary silence. "You should go to bed."

"Huh?" Rin said but he turned and walked away.

XxXxXxX

Rin laughed as Shippo squealed in joy.

Everyone, excluding Sesshomaru and Jaken, were in the kitchen. Ayame was cooking as Kagome chopped vegetables. Inuyasha, however, was throwing Shippo high into the air and catching him making the fox child laugh in excitement. Rin was sitting on a counter, Kirara laying on her lap and watching Shippo's progress up and down.

"Stop that or he wont have an appetite." Kagome admonished gently though she was smiling too.

"Yes, ma'am." Inuyasha said, catching Shippo one last time, upside down.

The boy was laughing and trying hard to catch his own breath.

"Here, runt, go help Ayame." Inuyasha said as he set him down.

"'Kay!" Shippo laughed and walked dizzily over to Ayame.

Inuyasha chuckled as he leaned again the counter next to Rin.

"You make such a good father." she said as Shippo collapsed into Ayame's arms, still laughing.

"I've had lots of practice." Inuyasha said as he watched Shippo.

"You have kids?" Rin asked, surprised.

"No." Inuyasha shook his head. "I've just been raising him so long."

"How long?" Rin asked.

"About-Hey!" he laughed. "Nice try. Kagome swore me to secrecy."

Rin pouted. "Why does everyone want to keep me in the dark?"

"For your health." Inuyasha shrugged. "And mine. Kagome would kill me if I told you."

Rin grumbled as she scratched her ears. "You know I'm going to find out sooner or later."

"Yeah, I know." Inuyasha shrugged. "Kagome doesn't want to keep you permanently in the dark. Just for now."

"I don't know why she wants to keep me in the dark at all." Rin sighed.

"Would you believe me if I said it was for your own good?" Inuyasha jumped up onto the counter next to her.

"No." Rin said defiantly though she fought back a smile. Inuyasha was very easy to get along with. "The only time I like secrets is when I'm in on them."

Inuyasha laughed. "Well, why don't you ask me some questions. I'll tell you what I can. How's that?"

Rin thought it over as she watched Kagome stir something into the pot over the fireplace as Shippo watched. "Well, it's better than nothing."

"That's the spirit." Inuyasha put his arm around her shoulders. "So, ask away."

"What happened to Kouga?" she said the first thing that came to mind.

Inuyasha took a big sniff. "Mmm, doesn't that stew smell good."

"Why are you all like this?" she tried again.

"You know, Ayame is a great cook." he licked his lips once.

"What are you?" Rin tried, getting frustrated.

"Well, as near as we can figure it, we're demons." Inuyasha said, finally answering a question.

"Then how come you all look different?" Rin continued on the subject, wondering how far she could go before he denied her an answer.

"Well, Shippo is a fox demon." he said. "Kagome is a cat. Ayame is a wolf. And I'm a dog."

"A dog is married to a cat?" Rin asked, laughing.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Inuyasha laughed with her.

"Then, what is Lord Sesshomaru?" she asked.

"He's a dog." Inuyasha said.

"Like you?" Rin asked.

"Yeah." he nodded. "He is my brother after all."

"Your brother?" Rin repeated, surprised. "I didn't know that."

Inuyasha nodded again. "He's the only family I have left."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome walked over, glaring at him.

"What?" he asked, innocently. "I'm not telling her anything that you wouldn't want her to know."

Kagome still glared but made no comment.

"So, what are those?" Rin asked, pointing to the slashes on Kagome's face. "Lord Sesshomaru has some on his cheeks, too."

"We all have them." Kagome said. "Everyone but Inuyasha."

"Really?" Rin looked at Inuyasha's slash free face.

"Yes." Kagome nodded. "See? Kirara has them on her tail and paws."

Rin looked down at the cat who looked up at her and meowed.

"Shippo has them on his stomach." Inuyasha continued. "Jaken has his on his back."

"And Ayame?" Rin looked at her friend who didn't appear to have any stripes.

"Her hips." Kagome said. "Same place Kouga had his."

"Wow." Rin said. "Why does everyone have stripes."

Inuyasha smiled down at her silently.

"Another thing you can't tell me?" Rin smiled back up at him. "Then why don't you have stripes?"

No answer.

Rin grumbled. "What's the point of asking questions if you wont answer them."

"Then stop asking!" Kagome snapped at her.

Rin jumped and looked at her usually nice friend in surprise.

"Kagome." Inuyasha said sharply. "Calm down. It's not that big of a deal."

Kagome looked down in shame. "I'm sorry, Rin. I didn't mean to shout."

Before Rin could forgive her, Kagome turned and returned to Ayame's side.

"Don't worry about it." Inuyasha said.

"What's wrong with her?" Rin asked and when Inuyasha didn't respond she sighed.

"Any other questions?" he asked.

Rin thought for a moment. "Well, why am I not allowed in the west wing?"

"No one is allowed in the west wing." Inuyasha said. "Those are Sesshomaru's rooms. He prefers his peace."

"Now, that one sounded like you lied to me." Rin said. "I don't mind ignoring the question but don't lie."

"I didn't lie." Inuyasha said. "I just didn't tell you the whole truth.

"Then what about the ballroom?" she asked.

Inuyasha smiled silently again.

Rin sighed. "Well, then how about the gardens? Why is Lord Sesshomaru the only one allowed the take care of them?"

"Hmm?" Inuyasha blinked. "It's not that we can't, it's that we don't. For a long time, no one thought about the garden. When we finally did, we realized Sesshomaru had been taking care of it. So we just let him do it."

"So, I wouldn't get in trouble if I helped?" Rin asked, perking up instantly.

"I can't imagine why you would." Inuyasha shrugged.

"Finally!" Rin said triumphantly. "I've been looking for something to do for ages! I can help take care of the flowers."


	13. Explanations and Transformations

**Chapter 13: Explanations and Transformations**

Koga didn't like it.

Not one bit.

Not that he had been thrown from the castle he had defended for so long. Not that he was now fighting the many, many similar demons that called the forest their home. Not even that before he had had a comfortable bed and a warm place to sleep at night.

No, that wasn't the problem.

The problem was he felt an aweful lot like he was forgetting something.

He was standing on a tall, surprisingly stronge, tree branch, looking over the tree tops at the looming castle that took up a good chunk of the forest.

He had been watching it for a while now, a frown on his face and his arms crossed in irritation.

What was it that he had forgotten?

His wolves, his precious wolves, were littered around the base of the tree. They had just easten, a rather large demon boar, and were content to lay around, sniffing at nothing and waiting for him.

They were everything he needed, all the company he could want. Running free in the jungle was an incredible feeling as was the satisfaction of taking down his prey and eating the kill.

So why did he feel so strongly that something was missing?

He resisted the urge to figit irritably.

The castle, that damn castle, jutted sharply into the sky, blocking his view of the vast stretch of trees beyond it.

Inside, he knew, was that oh, so sainted prince and what was left of those loyal to him. Not that there was much left. Most of them were females, he could smell them from here.

He sniffed again, trying to determine who live in the castle as that nagging feeling in the back of his mind started up again.

A runt, the old scent of a male. Not the prince, but related to him. The scent was faded now though but the prince's was fresh and still there. There were, other than him, three females.

"Two dogs and a wolf." he said to himself as he sniffed.

Hmm...

Had there always been two dogs?

He shook his head as he felt a head ache coming on. Everytime he he started trying to decipher that nagging feeling that kept him around the castle he would get a headache right at the base of his skull that only served to make him irritable and nauseous.

XXXXXXXXX

Rin was humming as she tended to the flowers under her fingers. The green gown she had picked to hide grass stains better was stained with mud. Her fingers were stained green and the hat she had worn to protect herself from the fall sun was beside her, forgotten.

The only thing more soothing to her soul than gardening was reading. The patience and dedication required to gently coax the plants from the earth and beat back those that would harm them came naturally to her. The bees and butterflies that always circled the flora never bothered her, it was like they all recognized each other as equal members of the same ecosystem.

And if her ears would stop itching this day would be perfect!

She sat back with a groan as she started itching, again, at the offending lobes.

The itches had been coming on for a while now. Mostly in the mornings, then sometimes during the day. But today they just seemed to do nothing but itch.

Rin was a little suprised she hadn't scratched them off the side of her head.

"Good evening, Rin." Kagome, with Ayame in tow, said pleasently as they made their way through the garden.

"Good morning." Rin said, giving her ears one last tug, before standing up.

"You're hat is off." Ayame said, a little concerned. "Won't you get sun sickness?"

"I'm not _that_ delicate." Rin laughed as the urge to itch her ears became almost overpowering.

"Well, I've made tea and Ayame fixed some lunch." Kagome said. "Come inside and eat. The plants will still be here when you're done."

"Alright." Rin nodded, she really wasn't all that hungry but she had barely touched her breakfast or dinner the night before. She needed to eat.

"So, have you been enjoying your time gardening?" Ayame asked, a small smile on her face.

Rin had noticed the girl trying harder and harder lately to not be upset that Kouga had left them. But her smiles were always a little hollow and, when she didn't think anyone was looking, she was just sad.

"I have." Rin nodded as she wiped her fingers off on her skirt in a very unladylike fashion. "Gardening has really helped me through some tough times." She didn't mention that she was avoiding the roses as if they were the plague themselves.

She had become determined to make Sesshomaru love her, her desire to please him was completely sudden and nearly as overwhelming as that damn itch on her ears. She found him fascinating and alluring, something the men at the village all failed to do.

But that didn't mean she was comfortable at all with her prison like life. And the roses, though beautiful, just felt full of bad memories for her.

She itched one of her ears as subtly as she could, it being unladylike to scratch at your body. But the itch was horrible!

"Yeah." Ayame said. "I know what you mean." Her little vegetable garden was all she had now that Koga was gone. And she missed him like mad.

Kagome sighed as well. "Inuyasha left this morning."

"Where did he go?" Rin asked, surprised.

"He went to go patrol the forest border." Kagome said.

"Like the master does?" Rin asked innocently enough but both girls stared at her. "What?"

"How did you know he patrols the border?" Ayame asked.

"He told me." Rin shrugged.

"Why are you scratching you ear?" Kagome asked.

Rin blinked then realized she had been attacking her lobes and lowered her hands, blushing a bit. "Sorry. They've just been so _itchy_ lately. I don't know why. Do you have an herb garden? I think I could make a poltuce to make it stop. Why are you staring at me like that?"

Both girls were looking at Rin, both with looks of dread and a bit of horror on their faces.

"How itchy are they?" Kagome asked as one of her hands started shaking.

"Unbarably." Rin smiled sheepishly as she started scratching at them again.

Ayame's hand shot out and she grabbed Rin's, lifting her fingers up to her eyes.

"Kagome..." she whined a bit, looking at her nails.

"Oh, gods..." Kagome said quietly as they stared.

"Guys..." Rin looked at them, getting a bit scared. "What's wrong?"

Kagome didn't answer, instead she grabbed Rin's head and turned it to the side, lifting her hair out of the way, to look at Rin's ears.

They were slightly red from Rin scratching at them and, at the top, the cartilage was changing shape.

Elongating.

Pointing.

"Oh, gods..." Ayame copied Kagome.

"Rin." Kagome said. "This is important, alright? Listen to me. Do you have any...blemishes on your body?"

"Huh?" Rin looked at her funny. "No. Not even a birth mark."

"Not like that." Ayame shook her head. "Something more...striped."

"Striped?" Rin repeated. "What, like you? No. Why?"

"Kagome." Ayame looked at her friend sadly. "Its-"

"I know." Kagome cut her off.

"What?" Rin asked, getting a bit scared.

Kagome, too late, smiled comfortingly at her. "Nothing, Rin. Nothing. Don't worry about it. An herb garden, you asked? Actually we-"

"Kagome, what?" Rin demanded to know.

"It's nothing." Kagome lied. "Now, about that herb garden-"

"If you don't tell me I'm calling for the master." Rin said making both of them flinch but neither opened their mouths. "I'm not kidding. I _will_ call for him."

"Rin, don't do-"

"SES-UMPH!"

Both girls jumped forward and slammed their hands down on Rin's mouth, shutting her up.

"Don't do that!" Ayame said, looking around scared he would come anyway. "Okay, okay! We'll tell you! Just don't do that!"

Rin nodded and both girls removed their hands with a sigh of relief.

"I'm listening." Rin said, crossing her arms.

"Let's get inside." Kagome said. "I'll tell you over tea."

Rin nodded and turned on her heels and walked toward the castle and Kagome gave Ayame a warning look that said 'let me do all the talking'.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright." Rin said, cradling her tea in her hands as they sat at the table in the cozier of the two dinning rooms. "Talk. What do you know?"

Kagome bit her lip, wondering how to phrase this.

Rin groaned. "Another secret, right?"

Ayame had excused herself, not wanting to make Kagome mad because she said something she shouldn't have leaving the other girl alone to tell her.

"It is for your best interest." Kagome said. "I only have the best of intentions."

"The road to ruin is paved with well wishers and good intentions." Rin quoted as she glared. "Now you tell me something. You know what's wrong with me."

"You're becoming one of us." Kagome sad sadly. "I was hoping you would be immune but, I guess, you aren't."

"What?" Rin looked surprised. "I'm turning into a demon?"

Kagome nodded. "That's how it starts. The more changes you go through, the itchier you get. Your ears, right?"

Rin nodded.

"Then yours will just point like Ayames." Kagome said. "Me and Inuyasha went deaf for three days then they just fell off. After that, the tops of heads started itching and these grew in."

"What else?" Rin asked as dread started pooling in her stomach. She was becoming a demon? She deffinately hadn't signed up for that!

"Well, your claws are already coming in." Kagome said and Rin immediately lifted her hand to check.

Her nails _were_ getting longer and most of it seemed concentrated in the center. It wasn't a claw, yet, but it was started to take the shape of one.

"You're probably going to get fangs." Kagome said. "We all got fangs. Your two teeth will fall out and, about two days later, the fangs will grow in."

Rin's tongue went to her own canines but they _felt_ normal. Were a pair of demonic fangs already growing inside her gums?

"What we are, what we've become, comes in two stages." Kagome explained carefully, trying not to say too much. But Rin did have a right to know what was happening to her. "The first is the onset of the demon abilities.

"After your fangs come in, if nothing else about you changes drastically, you'll get sleepy and you'll sleep for days on end. That's the final phase of the first stage." she said. "After that, you'll be just like us. We call it the first stage."

"How many stages are there?" Rin asked, afraid but needing to know.

"Just two." Kagome said sadly. "We're all, you too now, are in the first stage."

"And Koga?" Rin asked. "He's not in the first stage anymore is he?"

"No." Kagome shook her head. "He's at the end of the second stage."

"What happens in the second stage?" Rin asked feeling a bit like she had just discovered she had a sickness that was eating at her body and would eventually destroy her.

"The first symptom of it are the stripes." A bit absentmindedly, Kagome reached up and stroked the purple, almost angry, slashes on her face.

"Inuyasha is the only one without stripes." Rin said, surprised.

Kagome nodded. "After the stripes appear, you'll start changing."

"Even more?" Rin asked, wanting to run and hide in fear.

"Not physically." Kagome assured her. "The first stage is physical, the second is purely mental. You'll start getting irritable, things that never made you angry before will."

Rin remembered all the times Kagome had snapped at her for, what Rin could see, was no real reason to snap and how the others had to remind her to calm down.

"You'll start forgetting things." Kagome continued, looking deep into her tea cup. "Not like your name or where you are or anything like that. No, you'll start losing memories. Ones of your friends, ones that made you happy. It's a bit like losing pieces of yourself."

That

, Rin decided, would be the worst part of this transformation.

"Then you'll start feeling like you're at war with yourself." Kagome bit her lip sadly. "You know you've forgotten someting but you can't remember it. You know you love the people around you, but you can't remember why.

"After that, when night falls, you'll start losing even that. Those around you are like strangers. You know their names and their faces but you feel nothing for them."

An image of Koga standing in front of the fire, looking at her like she was a delicious meal as he said her name so sweetly, invaded her mind.

"We try to fight it, but it's a lot like torture." Kagome said. "It's physically painful to be so at war with yourself."

As if coming through time, Rin heard an echo of Koga's howls of desperation at night.

"And you can't stop it." Kagome sighed. "Once you're...infected, I guess is the word, you have to go through it. We've held it off for a long time, longer than you can imagine, but we all fall eventually. I'm next."

"Kagome." Rin said sadly.

"I'm already losing pieces of me." Kagome felt tears gather in her eyes. "Memories of me and Inuyasha, me and Shippo, me and all my friends...they're disappearing. I know they're there but I just can't remember them. I don't even remember my mother's face, I know I had one, but I don't remember her."

Rin reached forward and put a comforting hand over Kagome's.

"I'm surprised I lasted this long." Kagome smiled at her sadly. "But I knew it was coming. I hate that I'm going to leave Inuyasha but, eventually, I'm not even going to love him anymore. And that scares me more than anything."

"Why?" Rin asked.

"Why?" Kagome repeated. "Why does that scare me?"

"No." Rin shook her head. "Why does this happen?"

Kagome looked away from her.

"A secret? Now?" Rin asked in disbelief. "Kagome, really?"

"I'm sorry." Kagome said unappologetically. "But it _is_ all for the better."

"When will the second stage start?" Rin asked instead. "How long before I lose myself?"

"Well, it's different for everyone." Kagome said.

"Why?" Rin asked.

"It just depends on how loyal you are to the master." Kagome wiped away her unshed tears. "We that are left, are teh most loyal to him. The more loyal you are to him, the longer the curse takes to spread."

Rin filed away the word 'curse' and not 'disease' as she would have used but asked instead, "Why?"

Feeling that it wouldn't harm anything, and might actually help by making Rin feel pity for him, Kagome said, "It's part of his punishment."

"Punishment." Rin repeated thinking of how Sesshomaru had said pretty much the same thing.

"As time passes," Kagome explained, "those who are most loyal to him are all that remain. But it means that he has to watch as we slowly lose our sanity."

Rin thought back to the moment in the forest when Sesshomaru had formally banished Koga and Koga had laughed.

"You know, I always thought it would hurt to hear those words myself. But, it's actually kind of relieving, you know?"

How mant times had Sesshomaru had to banish those around him and heard them sneer. Those once so loyal suddenly hating him and wishing him dead. How would such a thing feel?

"He's grateful to us," Kagome said, "because of the loyalty we have for him. But it also means he has to deal with the heartbreak of losing us all, one by one. That's why he's so cold, you understand? He's had to banish those he cared for, those he knew, those he respected. It's made him closed off and distant. And, yeah, it hurts him.

"And, the curse is different for him." she continued as Rin noted that, again, Kagome said 'curse'. "We all lose our sanity, but he keeps his. He remembers every one of us and keeps the affections he had for us all. We, mercifully, get to forget one day. He's stuck with the pain of always remembering."

"Why?" Rin asked. "Why did this happen? Who wants to punish him _that_ badly?"

Kagome said nothing for a moment and Rin was about to groan at another secret. Then the girl opened her mouth and said softly, "I don't remember. It's one of my lost memories."

"You forgot?" Rin asked in disbelief.

"No." Kagome shook her head. "I just don't remember. I've tried, but I can't. Ayame wasn't there that day, she worked in the city at the time."

"City?" Rin repeated.

Kagome smiled again, a bit of humor in it. "You didn't think this was always a castle in the middle of no where, did you? There used to be a great city, all around us. It's gone now, as is everyone who lived in it.

"Shippo was sleeping, Inuyasha was there but neither he nor his brother speak of it. He told me about it but, like I said, it's one of my lost memories now." Kagome sighed. "I just want this curse to end. I just want things to go back to the way they used to be."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Rin asked, sure she knew the answer. After all, if something could be done wouldn't it have been done by now?"

Kagome smiled. "That is one of the secrets."

"Come on!" Rin cried out. "There's a way to break the curse but you wont tell me what it is?"

"It's all for the best." Kagome sighed. "Trust me, it's better, for now at least, if you don't know."


	14. To Do Something For Her

**Chapter 14: To Do Something For Her**

It was raining, hard, outside.

Rin watching in fascination as rain pelted her large window, streaking down the colored and clear glass. Thunder rolled in the sky, shaking the very foundations of the castle, even as lightning lit up the otherwise inky blackness.

All that power, all that fury, all that raw energy outside; it was exciting.

"It's been a good rain season." she said out loud. If the rains persisted into winter, they would have snow without question.

"This forest needs a lot of water to survive."

Rin turned in surprise then smiled at her visitor. "My lord." she bowed her head a bit in respect. "What a pleasent surprise."

He said nothing. Instead he walked forward and stood before her, looking down at her tiny form. Carefully, as if he didn't want to alarm her, he reached up and grasped her chin in his hand and tilted her head to the side.

Her ears were a bit pointed, but nothing overly noticable. In fact, if you weren't looking you would probably never notice the tip that was forming.

In fact, the most obvious thing about her ears is that they were red, raw, and bleeding bit.

"You should stop scratching." he said, releasing her.

"I know." Rin blushed a bit. "But, they really are itchy."

Since he had gone through very much the same process when his own ears had formed, he didn't push further.

"Kagome spoke to me." she said. "Told me...what would happen to me."

"I doubt she explained why." Sesshomaru said.

"She said she forgot." Rin frowned. "She said her memories were starting to fade."

"That day is always the first one they forget." Sesshomaru said.

"What day?" Rin asked.

"The day I recieved my curse." he said without emotion.

"Your curse." Rin repeated. "You all keep mentioning it, saying it's your punishment. But what could you have done so wrong?"

"I ran afoul that which vexes all men." he said.

"What vexes all men?" Rin asked.

"Can you not guess?" he asked, reaching up and carressing her cheek with the back of his hand. "I've been out of touch with the world for a long time but I doubt very seriously that _that_ has changed. A woman."

"A woman?" Rin asked.

Sesshomaru nodded. "An enchantress, a witch if I ever saw one. But powerful. More powerful than can be imagined. She herself has been dead for decades, centuries maybe, but look how her magic persists to this day. Even now, you, have been cursed."

"I don't understand." Rin shook her head as he walked away from her and stood at her window instead. "What could you have done that was so bad, so terrible, that she would want to hurt you like this."

"I deserved it." Sesshomaru said making Rin jump a bit in surprise. He turned and smirked a bit as if he knew her thoughts and he probably did. "My arrogance was unforgiveable and my pride was so great that I refused to admit I was wrong even when I knew I was."

Rin went to him and hugged him from behind. "No one deserves to watch everyone they love turn to demons that only want to kill them. No one. That woman was wrong."

"You don't even know what happened." Sesshomaru said as he lifted a hand an placed it on the arm around his waist. "You weren't there. I deserved what I got. I know that now."

"Still." Rin shook her head. "Couldn't she thought of a better way to teach you a lesson."

Sesshomaru turned in her arms so that she was burying her head into his chest instead of his back. "A girl like you would never understand the wrath of a woman like her."

"All the same." Rin looked up at him. "But still, I guess, without her, I never would have been able to meet you. So, in a wierd way, I'm grateful."

Sesshomaru said nothing, just looked down at her without expression. Which was, Rin figured out, was his way of being speechless and not knowing what to say. He simply said nothing at all instead of blustering and blushing like other men would.

She rather liked it.

Moving carefully, because she didn't want to startle him, she unwrapped her arms from around his waist and, instead, moved them to curl around his neck as she stood on the tips of her toes to reach his face.

He didn't touch her back or help her.

But he didn't stop her either which, Rin had figured out, was his way of just letting her do as she wished.

As he would say, he didn't prohibit it.

She touched her lips delicately to his and found, to her surprise, they were a bit cold. He himself, was a bit cold. Not distant, at least not more than normal, but physically cold.

"You're cold." Rin whispered into his lips. "Why are you cold?"

He didn't answer.

So Rin put her lips back over his and let her own warmth sink into him.

He didn't kiss her back, but he didn't stop her either.

It was inappropriate, she knew, for a properly bred lady to kiss a man who wasn't her husband.

But who would judge her?

Jaken, maybe, but the little imp like thing judged everyone.

Kagome was trying so hard to get Rin to like him she would probably cheer and Ayame had looked a little lost since Koga left and probably wouldn't notice.

And if Sesshomaru himself didn't mind, why should she care if the whole world did.

"What are you doing, Rin?" Sesshomaru asked when she backed off to catch her breath.

Rin smiled and said, as she did before, "I only want to please you, my lord."

"You are playing with fire." he said as he finally touched her back. But it was only to grabb her arms and pull them from his neck and set her back on her feet.

"I am a grown woman." Rin said and, as soon as he released her, she was back against his chest. "I can do as I wish."

He grabbed her wrists and pushed her back again, but held onto them so she wouldn't put her body against his anymore.

The urge to accept her offer was very nearly irresistable. He could still feel the warmth of her lips and the desire to pull her back into his embrace and take what she was offering made his head light and his loins tight.

But he resisted.

She didn't know what she offered, she thought she did but she couldn't. Maybe even, physically, she knew what it was for a man to be with a woman, but she wasn't ready for it. Not now.

"Why?" she asked not put out by his refusal. If he hadn't wanted her to do what she did, he would have said so. It was his frankness that was so appealing about him. So it wasn't that he was objecting her advances because they came from her.

"The same reason I gave you before." He said as he released her and, this time, she didn't push herself back on him. "You aren't ready for this."

"I am so." Rin said, pouting a bit.

"No you're not." he said.

Rin sighed but didn't press the issue. then blinked in surprise when she saw a rose appear in her vision.

She looked up at him, for the first time, actually giving the rose to her and not just leaving it behind when he left.

She smiled and took it, marveling at the softness of the petals.

She brought the rose to her nose and took a deep breath of the wonderfully soothing scent.

Then paused as she felt Sesshomaru's breath on her ear. "One day, I will take you up on what you offer. But not tonight."

When she looked back up, he was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

She had thought that was the end of it. When Sesshomaru visited her at night, he would usually avoid her the next day. So she was a bit surprised when he showed up the next morning with the words "Follow me."

But she did.

He didn't say a word, just led her through the palace.

At one point, Rin thought she saw Kagome poke her head around the corner but it was gone before she got the chance to really look.

"Where are we going?" she asked when he started taking her down a hall she wasn't familiar with.

"I've decided to let you into the west wing." he said.

Rin gaped at him.

"You may come there to visit the library and _only_ the library do you understand?"

"I do." Rin smiled at his back. "Thank you, my lord. I'm sure it must be a bother to bring books to me all the time."

He gave her no answer and Rin smiled wider.

The castle was beautiful in a dark kind of way. Everything was beautiful but demented. There was a portrait of a mother feeding her babe on the third floor that Rin avoided at all costs because the babe was feeding by biting into her breast and sucking out the blood while the mother wrapped her ghostly hands around it's tiny neck. The statues were all grotesque, warped in a way. Nothing ever smiled, it was all one big horror.

And the further into the west wing they ventured, the more tortured and haunting the decor rug beneath their feet stopped being a deep burgandy and more and more resembled freshly spilled blood. It was still soft and luxurient but it seemed darker somehow. Was it a trick of her mind or a trick of the spell?

The doors they stopped before were magnificent, at least two stories tall, and gleaming like they had been cleaned recently.

Sesshomaru hesitated, his hands on the knobs, for only a moment, Then he pushed the double open and stepped aside.

Rin gasped and stepped forward slowly, trying to take in the splendor before her.

Her own library at home had been impressive, the bookstore had been amazing.

This place was indescribable.

Four floors of books, shelves lined up neatly with all the books placed with great care and attention to orginazation. Ladders were against the shelves offering the top shelves to the shorter readers and spiral staircases led the way to the upper floors. There were two massive windows on the opposite wall providing natural light and shining brightly on the tables that had been placed before them to receive the most light.

There were lamps but they weren't ordinary lamps. Like the ones at her one library and the ones at the book shop they were specially designed to go out if tilted or knocked over. There wasn't a speck of dust anywhere and the room didn't smell neglected. It smelled like aged leather and paper and ink. Smells that Rin adored and calmed her soul like no other.

"Oh, Sesshomaru, thank..." she turned to smile at him but he was gone and the doors were shut. She giggled and turned to back to the books.

Rin picked a shelf at random and grabbed the first book that caught her eyes.

It wasn't until she was sitting down on a comfy recliner beside the window that she realized.

She was the only one allowed here and here was the only place she was allowed. Kagome and Ayame and Shippo and even Jaken weren't permitted here. So, if she was the only one here, who had cleaned and straightened the library?

She looked at the gleaming wood of the tables and the carefully tended books and was sure she had to be wrong. There was just no way it was true.

Could Sesshomaru have cleaned this all...

...for her?


	15. Something That Wasn't There Before

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**Chapter 15: Something That Wasn't There Before**

Sesshomaru glared out at the sky. It was almost as if it had been reflecting his mood these last few days. Dark at times, furious at others. The sky continued to dump rain on the castle and forest below. And when it wasn't, the sky was dark and overcast, like an angry bruise.

Sesshomaru himself wasn't happy.

It was Rin.

She was transforming.

Her ears, her claws, even the scent of her blood was shifting. Just like before, just like everyone else before.

And he blamed himself.

Just as that witch knew he would when she cast the spell.

Sesshomaru may have been a cold man, sometimes he was even a cruel man. But when it came to those people who swore their loyalty to him, he always tried to do his best by them. That trait, more than any other, was what was going to make him a good ruler, what made him a good ruler.

However, it was also his downfall. Watching as, one by one, each of his people lost their minds, gave up everything they once loved and cherished, was hell on him. He wanted the best for those sworn to him.

He wanted the happiness and well being to those who served him. He considered it only fair that they served him and he served them.

And there was nothing he hated so much as watching them fall like they did. He hated the whole situation, he hated the witch for casting the spell, but most of all, he hated himself. He brought this on himself and he couldn't deny it. And it was pure hell watching everything he held dear fall around him.

But Rin.

Oh, gods above, not Rin.

Rin was special, a girl different from any girls he had met before. She payed no real mind to her wardrobe, she found precious gems to be of minimal interest. But books, she loved books. He knew she would, and could, stay in the library for hours on end just persuing the contents of his library.

And the way she cared for his plants, like each one was her one precious child. All but his roses. He was kind of saddened that she avoided his roses and refused to show them care, but he understood why.

She was precious in every way. Kind and caring and knowledgable. She would make a good ruler herself with her caring ways and her ability to understand immensely complex situations.

She was perfect and amazing.

And she was transforming.

And he despised himself for it.

She didn't deserve it, not her. She deserved better. So much better. And there was no way he could give it to her. Once it started, the transformation couldn't be stopped.

And he hated every fiber of his being for bringing this upon such a girl as her.

XXXXXXXXX

Kouga was back to glaring at the castle. His inability to grasp just what it was that drew him there was irritating. The entire castle was irritating. It was his belief that if something irritated you, you got rid of it.

But that fallen prince resided there, guarded it religiously. There was no way he alone could take down such an enormouse foe.

He needed help.

A lot of it.

XXXXXXXXX

"What are you reading?"

Rin looked up as Sesshomaru came in.

She had been reading by firelight in one of the drawing rooms in the palace. The library didn't have a fireplace as a precaution so, to enjoy one in the looming winter cold, she had had to seek it out elsewhere.

"It's a journal." she said holding it up. "From a general I've never heard of."

"What's his name?" Sesshomaru asked as he sat on the recliner opposite hers. He looked incredible, dangerous though, by candle light. It was a combination that made Rin's body ache not unpleasently.

"He was called the Inu No Taisho." she said.

"He was my father." Sesshomaru said immediately.

"Your father?" Rin blinked in surprise as she looked at the journal.

"What is it about?" he asked next.

Rin, thrown off by his last statement, had to reorganize her thoughts to answer. "Oh, uh, it's about a war campeign he won."

"Read it to me." Sesshomaru said, looking into the fire.

Rin blinked, surprised. It wasn't that she couldn't do it, she had read to her family at night all the time. But to receive such a request from Lord Sesshomaru...

Well, it actually hadn't been a request but Rin knew that, if she wanted to, she wouldn't have to. It wasn't a request, but it wasn't exactly an order either. She was free to deny him if she wished.

Which was why she flipped back to the beginning, she was only a few pages in anyway, and started reading it over.

Sesshomaru listened silently without comment as she spoke, he stared into the fire easily able to picture the images painted out by the book. It hadn't been written by his father but by a vassel of his and it was nice to hear it.

Rin's voice was mellow, soothing even, as she read it outloud.

It didn't take long for Rin to find her rhythm. Reading for others to hear was almost second nature to her and just as calming as gardening.

And though they didn't look at each other, though Rin was the only one to speak, it was still a strangely intimate experience.

XXXXXXXXX

Rin gasped, then laughed in excitment as she ran from her bed the next morning.

All around the castle, probably killing her garden though she didn't really care, was a thick blanket of snow that coated the entire area in an almost blinding layer of white snow.

And it was still falling slowly from a sky that was much brighter than it had been for a while now.

"Do you like snow?"

Used to the people she lived with popping up out of nowhere without any sign, Rin smiled at Kagome as she walked into the room.

"I love snow." Rin answered. "It's just so beautiful. Do you want to come outside and play in it?"

Rin looked so excited at the prospect that Kagome didn't really want to say no. "I haven't played in snow in years, Rin."

"You don't forget how!" Rin laughed as she ran to her armiore and threw it open. "Do I have anything warm in here?"

"There's a sable in storage you can use." Kagome said. "Shall I get it for you?"

"Yes!" Rin laughed as she pulled out a dark red dress that she hadn't worn before because the velvet was made for deep winter.

By the time she had dressed, Kagome had returned with the thick fur wrap.

Rin threw it around her shoulders and very nearly ran out of the castle, laughing as she went.

Ayame, drawn by the noise she was making on the way out, came out of the kitchen and watched Rin throw the sable away and fall into a thick pile of snow.

She laughed out loud as Kagome picked up the fallen fur, dusting the snow off.

Rin jumped up, grabbed a hanful of snow, and threw it up. It fell down all around her like a blizzard and it coated her hair and shoulders.

"You're going to catch cold." Kagome said as Rin picked up more snow and tightened it into a ball.

"Me and my sisters played in the snow every year at least once." she said happily. "I just can't imagine not playing in the snow." she looked up and spotted Ayame in the doorway of the kitchens. "Ayame!

Come here! Come on! Look at all the snow!"

Ayame couldn't help but giggle but she didn't leave her kitchen.

However, Shippo and Kirara behind her saw Rin and ran outside to join her in her game.

Rin threw the snowball but they dodged it and tackled her back into the snow.

"Why did I even get this?" Kagome asked, indicating to the sable, as they rolled around in the fine white powder.

"For later!" Rin threw more snow up, creating a mini-blizzard all around her that Shippo was all too happy to contribute to. "Does Ah-uhn like snow?"

"He's a reptile." Kagome said, shaking her head. "He's probably hibernating right now."

"Oh, well." Rin shrugged. "More for us, right Shippo?"

"Yeah!" The kit laughed, his ginger hair already frosted.

Kagome went to Ayame, planning to hang the sable up until Rin needed it.

"I think a nice hot stew, huh?" Ayame asked as Kagome passed.

"That would be perfect." Kagome agreed.

Rin lost track of time as she rolled around and got soaked and frozen with Shippo and Kirara. At one point, Jaken came out to yell at them for being too loud. He was promptly pelted with Rin and Shippo's hoard of snowballs.

Watching him stalk off, grumbling, was well worth it.

When they did come back in, they were coated in snow, cold, and their faces were flushed with all the fun they had.

Kagome had laughed. "You two should go change before you catch cold."

Rin nodded and left to go do so. Shippo, still a kid, ignored her and instead went to go see what Ayame was making.

Halfway to her room, not really surprising her, Sesshomaru was waiting.

Did you have fun?" he asked, his face expressionless.

"I did." Rin nodded. "You should try it."

"I'll pass." he answered. "You're wet."

"Yeah, that happens." Rin looked down at her soaked clothes. "I'll probably get sick. I do every year but I love playing anyway."

Sesshomaru doubted, with her transformation happening, she would get sick. Demons rarely got ill. But he didn't point it out. Instead, he said. "I'll be in the blue teak room."

He walked by her and Rin beamed a bit.

She almost ran to her room and threw off her wet dress.

She was surprised to find herself having fun here. This castle was slowly becoming a home to her. She loved the library, loved the gardens, loved her friends. And maybe, if he kept being exactly who he was, Rin would fall for Sesshomaru as well.

She dried off as fast as she could and pulled on the first gown that came to hand. Then she grabbed the journal they hadn't finnished the night before, and went to blue teak sitting room.

She slowed to a walk as she got close, but she knew he would know she had nearly run there. That didn't mean she had to be breathing hard when she got there.

Rin took a deep breath in front of the door, and pushed it open with a smile on her face.

Sesshomaru was waiting in front of the fire, watching it without any real interest. On her chair was her sable, dry and waiting for her.

She beamed and sat down, pulling it around her shoulders and marveling at its warmth.

Without another word, she opened the book to the point where they had stopped last night and began reading again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"By...the...gods..." Kagome whispered as she and Ayame, Shippo on her shoulder, and jaken behind them, watched through a crack in the door as Rin read to him. "Am I really seeing that?"

"He's letting her get close." Ayame said in disbeleif. "There may be something there."

"What something?" Shippo asked.

"Impertinent female." Jaken sniffed annoyingly but the others ignored him.

"Something that wasn't there before, Shippo." Kagome said cryptically. They were whispering, so low a normal human couldn't hear, trying to keep Sesshomaru from hearing.

"Something there that wasn't there before?" Shippo blinked, confused. "What does that mean?"

Kagome and Ayame shared a smile. "Nothing." Kagome answered. "I'll tell you when you're older."

"But I don't age." Shippo said.

"I know." Kagome looked back at the comfy scene before them.

She had hoped before, but it had been a forced hope. Something she hoped for because she had to hope for something. But this, this here, was tangible proof that maybe something was changing. Sesshomaru hadn't let anyone close in so long. For he and Rin to be like that, cozy and familiar, brought a new, almost painful, hope to her chest.

Maybe breaking the curse wouldn't be as impossible as it seemed.


	16. Changes in the Air

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**Chapter 16: Changes in the Air**

Inuyasha opened his eyes and looked up, surprised to be awakened so thouroghly from such a sound sleep for no reason he could detect. He didn't smell any enemies and, besides, it was daylight. The demons of the forest were largly nocturnal.

He slept in trees, in high branches, and didn't really move until he smelled the demons waking up and getting ready to hunt for the night. Until then, he typically dreamed of Kagome and yearned to be back at the castle.  
>So why was he so awake now? He sensed no foes, in fact, the forest was calm.<p>

Strangely calm. Not a breath of wind stirred, not a single thing in the forest moved. But Inuyasha was sure there was no predator around.

So what was going on?

He looked up at the sky. Since the snow, it had been overcast day and night. Almost unnaturally so. He could smell the fear of the humans in the village. Nothing was quite so alarming as complete stillness.

He took a deep breath to double check but he smelled nothing wrong. He could only smell changes in the air.

What was happening back at the palace?

XXXXXXXX

Rin was curled into a ball on the center of her bed, her knees at her chin and her hands clasped down firmly against her pointed ear. Tears rolled down her eyes without hinderance as her body wracked from her sobs.  
>Her hearing wasn't at the levels of Sesshomaru or the others yet, but it had gotten more powerful.<p>

And she couldn't block out the sound of Kagome's howls.

Tortured, horrified, sad, and angry all at once. They were nothing like Kouga's howls. Kouga, she learned from Ayame, had stopped fighting and let his final transition come.

Kagome fought hers and Rin could hear it in her howls that echoed up around the palace and deep into her bones.

Kagome.

Sweet, kind, forgiving Kagome.

The girl who went out of her way to make her welcome. The girl who smiled and laughed with her. The girl who fell so deeply in love that no amount of time could break or corrode the bond. The girl who sheltered an old man from a threat despite it putting herself at risk.

And the pain in her voice was ripping Rin apart.

Ayame, Sesshomaru, Jaken, Kirara, even Shippo, were down in the dungeons. Speaking to them helped, they said. Being there to help them, if only in silence, was soothing to the horrors they faced as they lost themselves.

And when she broke free and went mad, they could drive her out without hurting her.

But Rin couldn't stay.

She couldn't watch.

Kagome, bound against a wall with iron shackles. Her wrists bleeding as she struggled. Her eyes burning crimson and her face angry.

And the tears that fell down her cheeks despite it all.

Rin wanted to crawl into a dark hole and hide, to shut out the world, shut off those howls, and just lay in peace and pretend her life was all right.

And, worse than anything, she knew now that that was the fate that awaited her.

Would she, too, be bound to the dungeon wall? Looking Sesshomaru in the eyes as she forgot him, forgot Eri and Yumi, forgot her papa, forgot herself? Would she too scream her pain out?

Is this what Sesshomaru had to bare everytime one of those loyal to him lost their battle aggainst the transition?

Is this the true pain forced on him by the enchantress?

His own demonic form was nothing, she knew now. Being cut off from the world, being alone all the time, that wasn't his punishment.

It was this.

Being forced to watch this, to hear this, to feel each tortured scream as a mark on your soul. This was his punishment.

And Rin couldn't bare it.

She couldn't handle this pain. She couldn't handle knowing he was enduring the same pain.

Nothing was as bad as this.

Nothing was so horrific as this.

She cried and cried as she realized the true extent of the wrath of the enchantress.

Super acute hearing, so you could never stop hearing their screams.

Super health and strength so when they fought you, you always survived to bare witness to the next one.

An extended life span so that you had all the time in the world to be tortured.

An appearence so terrifying, other humans avoided you, forcing you to bond with those like you and make it that much harder to watch them lose their minds.

And it was horrible.

Rin lost track of time, sitting in her bed, waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting...

Because she knew, but she didn't know when, that soon those howls would stop.

Soon, Kagome would be gone completely.

Not dead, no. That would be too easy. She would live, live and hate.

And living to hate was a fate that was just too sad.

She cried for herself, for Kagome, for Inuyasha, for all the others who had been forced to endure the same.

But mostly, she cried for Sesshomaru.

Saying she was going to make him love her now was a joke that just wasn't funny.

How could Sesshomaru bare this pain and still have it in him to love? No one could.

Rin couldn't bare to listen to just one person's screams. She wanted desperately to die so she wouldn't have to hear any more and she wondered how often the others had wished the same but their super enhanced bodies wouldn't let them.

When she felt a pair of arms go around her, she leaned into the warmth of another body. It was day, but the sky was still gray. Even the snow now wasn't bright.

The howls were quite, they always were during the day. Night had the most pull on their inner demons.

"This is my punishment." Sesshomaru whispered in her ear. "This is how it was deemed I would be forced to suffer. This is my punishment, but it's not yours. "

Rin heard his appology. "I'm sorry." she said. "I didn't know. Kouga had been bad...but this..."

"I can always tell who struggles to hang on and who just gives up." Sesshomaru answered her. "Those that fight it always suffer more."

"That witch was horrid!" Rin said venomously. "How could she think anyone deserved this, no matter their crime!"

"A wise man said, 'Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.'" Sesshomaru told her. "She who cast this spell on me loved me. And I used her, playing on her affections with no intention of returning them. Then I dismissed her. Publicly. If I had known then what she was, I would never have dared even speak to her. She loved me, then she hated me. And, in her bitterness, cursed me."

Rin didn't have any comment.

However, she had been in the dark long enough. She had dealt with the secrets, she had obeyed the rules, she had been very patient.

But she was in this now, just as much as them. And she felt she deserved to know. Sesshomaru said it wasn't in his interest to hide things from her. It was time to test if he meant it.

"Tell me." she said quietly.

Sesshomaru didn't argue.

"It was my birthday." he said. "I had turned 21. And I...I had been cruel to her. Crueler by far than anything you, such an innocent, could imagine. We were in the ballroom..."

XXXXXXXXXX

_The look on her face was one of a person who had just been smacked upside the back of their head with a board without any warning. Her eyes were big, her jaw slack, but there were no tears which surprised him a bit._

_All his friends, dressed in their finest for his coming of age ball, had circled her, leaving her no escape, as they laughed._

_She had been so obvious in her pursuit, they said in half shouted whispers._

_Such an ugly girl, thinking she could win the heart of the prince._

_How presumptious._

_How hilarious._

_Look at her, so pathetic._

_Laughter, laughter on all sides._

_"Sessshomaru," Inuyasha said, looking uncomfortable, "that was too much. You didn't have to do this so publicly. Or so harshly."_

_"She isn't the most perseptive of women." Sesshomaru brushed off his annoying brother's words. "This is for the best. Now she has no question about my intentions or what I could mean."_

_"...Why?" she asked breahtlessly, one hand over her broken heart, as the tears she had been too shocked to shed finally gathered in her eyes. "I did everything for you. Everything. Why...?"_

_"As if one such as I would ever consider one such as you for a cheap tumble in the bedchamber, much less for marriage." Sesshomaru scoffed. "You've outlived your usefullness and I've grown bored of the way you follow me like a pup."_

_She made a strangled sound on her throat, a yelp of pain that she hadn't quite surpressed, as the laughter around her increased._

_She bowed her head, listening to their jeers, their taunts, thier unhidden cruelty._

_"What was that?" someone asked as she mumbled something no one could hear._

_She was shaking, and tears fell from her face and splashed onto the marbel floor at their feet. She looked up, but her eyes weren't sad, they were furious._

_And the hatred was directed right at Sesshomaru._

_"I said, I curse you, Lord Sesshomaru." she spoke loud and clearly and more laughter followed her words._

_"That's all?" Sesshomaru asked, bored with this game._

_She screamed._

_Everyone clasped their hands to their ears as her scream peirced the room, magically amplified a hundred times._  
><em>Sesshomaru's knees were about to collapse when unbelievable pain flared in his shoulder and his body was thrown back.<em>

_He slammed into the wall almost a hundred paces behind him, a spear of ice embedded into his shoulder and pinning him to the wall like a macabre parody of a bug in collection._

_"I curse you!" she screamed again, her amplified voice causing pain to all those who heard it. "I curse you to feel this pain, Sesshomaru! You shall suffer a thousand times over and never be able to escape! You shall know what it's like to see those who love you hate you!"_

_Sesshomaru screamed as his body felt like it errupted in fire. There were no flames but surely he was being razed to ash! This pain! It was unbearable!_

_"Until you can learn to love another, and earn her love in return, you shall remain cursed." and her voice rang in his ears, in his very soul._

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You hurt her." Rin said at last. "You really hurt her."

She had begun to believe that whatever pain he had inflicted on the enchantress was just people's inability to hear what he just couldn't say as Rin could. She had begun to believe that Sesshomaru surely had done no real wrong.

But he had actually hurt this girl. He didn't deserve all this, the punishment far outweighed the crime, but he had actually done a wrong.

"I never pretended otherwise." Sesshomaru answered. "Do you hate me now?"

Rin considered the question for a moment, thinking it over carefully before she answered.

Then she turned and looked at him, sitting behind her in her bed, watching her with his eyes that were always so closely guarded. But she knew, the more he felt the colder and more emotionless he seemed. He was scared, geniunly afraid she might hate him.

"No." she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned up so she could kiss him.

She had kissed Sesshomaru before, her mouth moving against his as he stood still and let her do as she pleased. But Sesshomaru had never kissed her before.

She had never felt the return of pressure as he leaned into her or felt his hands gather her closer to him, pressing so hard it was almost uncomfortable.

She understood now, completely.

She wasn't allowed in the west wing because Sesshomaru didn't want others getting close, or risk getting closer to others and enduring more pain as he watched them lose their sanity.

She wasn't allowed out of the castle because those who had lost their sanity still roamed the woods and he was scared that should she leave, she would get hurt and die.

She wasn't allowed into the ballroom because it was the sight of that last, painful, human memory. The scene of his crime and the beginning of all that pain.

But there was still one thing she didn't understand.

"Why the roses?" she leaned her face away from his to ask. "They were never included in your rules but you punished my father for picking them. Why?"

Sesshomaru looked surprised, his eyes just a tad bit wider than normal. And it looked like he had never actually considered the question itself. So when he answered, it was like he did so with half a question. "Roses were her favorite flower. She loved them dearly. And since then..."

He had felt the need to care for them, Rin understood. It was a way of appologizing that he didn't even realize was an appology.

He had hurt her and he was sorry but she wasn't around to tell so he did the only thing he could think of to plead forgiveness. He had cared for what she loved.

All without realizing what he was doing.

He had hurt her, but he had regretted it, and he had suffered since then for it.

And Rin's heart bled for both of them.

And when he pulled her back to him, she went without protest and opened herself happily to him.


	17. The Punishment of Loyalty

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**Chapter 17: The Punishment of Loyalty**

When had her presence become to natural? When had her scent become a natural part of his castle? When had it stopped being odd to have the warmth of her body pressed against his?

She was all sweetness and silken softness. Her big eyes threatened to swollow him whole and he was afraid that he wouldn't be at all unhappy if it happened.

Rin had offered himself to him before. But she had never been ready, never been prepared for what it was for a man and woman to join.

She was ready now.

He leaned her back on her bed, the sunlight pouring in from the window, the stained glass throwing rainbows over her. She smelled like the flowers she cared for; just as innocent and just as tempting.

Sesshomaru went slow with her, gentle. He ran his hands down her sides, teasing more than touching.

And he was rewarded with a sigh of pleasure, a simple release of breath that spoke volumes.

It had been so long since he had allowed himself the touch of another, since he had let someone get this close. And still, he couldn't imagine anyone but Rin there right now.

She looked up at him with such trust, with such devotion, he felt a pang of guilt. Surely he shouldn't be alowd this, surely the universe wasn't so kind to him.

But nothing stopped him from reaching under her and undoing the row of buttons in the back of her dress. And the universe didn't complain when he slid it down her small frame.

And when he pulled his own tunic over his head, her hands were right there, helping him.

She was everything that was good in the world, she was kind and forgiving. He had no rights to touch her. But he couldn't stop, if the world or some other enchantress wanted to punish him further for accepting what she willingly offered, then he would gladly take it.

If only he could spend this one night with her.

The air filled with the sweet sound of her soft sighs and the intoxicating scent of her arousal.

She bloomed under his touch, opened to him like a flower. Each caress encouraged her, each kiss made her glow, and every look he gave her told her without words how much she meant to him.

There were no words, just the sweet joining of souls and the glorious sound of her pants as he moved within her.

He knew he had hurt her when he pierced her for the first time, but she didn't show any pain. She held him close, whispered half formed words of encouragement, and rocked her hips in time with his.

And it was it's own kind of magic to grasp the pleasure so long denied him, to bring her that same ecstasy. When he reached the height of that cliff, he fell off of it together with her and it was glorious.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rin took a deep breath as she woke up. She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, the only light was that of a few candles. It took her a moment to wonder why something didn't feel right.

Then she realized; the howls had stopped.

She sat up in bed, holding the covers to her naked form as she listened. Night had fallen, but there were deffinately no howls.

"She escaped a few hours ago."

Rin looked over and saw Sesshomaru, fully clothed and sitting at her desk. He appeared to be reading something, her journal, she noticed. She was surprised she wasn't offended that he invaded her privacy. It just felt so natural.

"Kagome's gone then?" she whispered. A horrible sense of guilt rushed over her. While she had been up here sleeping peacefully after bedding down with the man of her dreams, Kagome had finally lost herself.

"She is." Sesshomaru nodded.

There was a moment of silence after that, that neither of them were want to break.

Rin cried a bit, silently, and wiped them away as fast as they fell. Sesshomaru didn't move from her desk, he let her mourn her lost friend.

"I feel...guilty." she said at last. "Like we've done something wrong."

"Don't." Sesshomaru said. "Kagome would be happy for us."

Rin smiled a bit, thinking about how she had obviously been trying to get Rin and Sesshomaru closer. "Yeah. I guess she would."

"What is this?" Sesshomaru held up a piece of parchment.

"That?" Rin looked at it. "Paper?"

"I meant, what's on it." he stood and brought it to her.

Rin took it and, with a bit difficulty because the light was so low, read the first few lines of the first unsent letter she had written to her family. She smiled a bit nostalgically. "It's a letter. I write letters to my family. I know they'll never be sent but...it feels nice writing to them all the same."

She handed it back to him with a smile, he took it and went back to her desk. He set the letter down but didn't take a seat himself. He looked like he was deep in thought.

Rin laid back. Her body was kind of sore, but not unpleasently so. It was kind of a...nice feeling. Her body had done something it was meant to do and it felt good.

"Are you alright?" Sesshomaru asked.

Rin smiled a bit sleepily. "I'm fine." her face fell. "I still feel so...sad about all of this."

"All of what?" he asked, returning to the bed and sitting on the edge.

"Everything." Rin said. "The castle, my friends, and you. Why does this have to happen? I know you did something wrong but this is too much."

Sesshomaru didn't respond which Rin knew meant he didn't know what to say.

She sat back up and wrapped her arms around him, his arm automatically went around her waist, holding her back while he himself looked away from her, still deep in thought.

Rin didn't disturb him. It was enough to be able to hold him and mourn the loss of her friend with him.

They sat together like that for a while, neither speaking or moving, lost in their own thoughts. And it was nice.

Finally, Sesshomaru said, "Write a letter."

"Huh?" Rin looked up at him, not sure what he meant.

"Write a letter to your family." he said. "I have to go tell Inuyasha what happened to Kagome anyway, I can drop the letter off at your family home while I'm gone."

"Sesshomaru..." Rin looked shocked.

"Tell them that you're alive, safe...happy." He still didn't look at her.

Rin was stunned. A letter, an actual corospondence telling her family not to worry, that she was happy. It was so great it was almost unbelievable.

"Oh, Sesshomaru." Rin felt tears pool in her eyes again and this time she didn't stop them from falling. "That would be the best gift you could give me. Thank you! Thank you so much, my lord."

She crawled back nto his lab and began kissing every inch of him she could reach in complete joy.

He fell back onto the bed, Rin on top of him, showing him the newest way she knew how, how very thankful she was.

XXXXXXXXXXX

With a look of complete happiness, Rin waved Sesshomaru off the next day. It appeared, around here, that when someone finally lost themselves, you should try and move on as quickly as possible.

"It isn't good to dwell on these things." Ayame had told Shippo who wouldn't stop crying that his new momma had gone to join his old one. But the poor child had already faced losing the majority of his friends and all of his family so he bounced back. He was already convinced that, soon, everyone would be coming back.

Rin and Ayame were the last two adults left since no one ever included Jaken and Shippo was still a boy.

So Rin and her sort of bonded over that. Rin suddenly found herself in the kitchen, peeling potatoes for Ayame. She wasn't eating as much as she used to but she still ate. Shippo had fallen asleep on Kirara, taking comfort in her warmth, while Ayame cooked and Rin mostly just watched her work.

"You know, there's something I still don't understand." Rin said at last.

"What's that?" Ayame asked, absentmindedly stirring her cooking pot.

"Everyone is losing themselves at a different time, right?" Rin asked mostly to clearify.

"Right." Ayame nodded. "It's different for us all."

"So, what determines when you finally...you know?" Rin considered she had a vested interest in knowing how long she could count on being herself. "Or is it random?"

"Oh, no." Ayame shook her head. "We go depending on how loyal we are to the master."

Rin thought it over for a moment. "I don't understand."

Ayame thought for a moment as well, trying to think of a way to explain it. "Oh, okay. Your village is in the kingdom and, technically, still a part of the curse. But no on ever turns into a demon, right?"

"Of course." Rin said. "I think someone would have noticed."

"That's because they have no loyalty to the master." Ayame said. "Once you develope a loyalty to him, even just the smallest amount, the curse starts acting upon you. Which was probably why the master felt safe keeping you only as a prisoner. Prisoners feel no loyalty to their captors so the curse wouldn't effect you.

"However, once you started feeling loyal to him, the curse hit you just like the rest of us." she conitnued. "We who are here have lasted as long as we have because of the loyalty we have for him. The more loyal you are, the longer you keep your sanity. However, the more loyal you are, the harder it is on him to lose you."

"Oh." Rin said, understanding dawning on her. "That enchantress was just evil. How could she think this was a fair punishment?"

Ayame shrugged. "Who knows? I think nothing that happened was fair. Inuyasha was going to be the last of us to go. But, I guess since you came so late, you'll be the last. It just depends on how loyal you are."

Rin thought it over. How loyal was she to Sesshomaru?

"Keep watch in your mirror." Ayame said. "You look like you're going to be a dog demon too when you're finished changing. Your stripes will probably be on your face as well. But, if you're anything like us, it wont happen for a long, long time."

"That's a bit comforting." Rin said only half serious. She yawned so loud her jaw popped.

Ayame smiled since it was so light outside. "The last of it is the days of sleeping. I guess you're getting close to the end."

"Will I really sleep all day?" Rin asked.

Ayame shook her head. "Not all day. You'll be awake maybe...two, three candlemarks of each one. It's not so bad. Learning to control all your new strength is a bit hard but I bet you can do it."

"I hope so." Rin sighed. "It's not like I have a choice."

"Don't be discouraged, Rin." Ayame put her hand over hers comfortingly. "It's hard, I know. But, it's not all terrible. At least, not until the end. And by that time, you stop caring."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey! Wolf!"

Kouga looked down at the woman shouting up at him from the base of the tree he was standing on. Was she familiar?

"Yeah, what do you want, dog?" he asked back.

"I hear you've been recruiting demons to storm the castle." she said. "I want in."

Kouga smirked a bit. "You think you can do it? That prince isn't a pushover."

"I don't care." she smirked darkly. "I just want a chance to take down that annoying castle."

Kouga laughed out loud. "Alright, girl. You're in. What's your name?"

She smiled. "Kagome."


	18. While You Were Gone

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**Chapter 18: While You Were Gone**

Rin smiled at Shippo as he ran through the puddles of the freshly melted snow. It was still cold out, but no longer so cold that snow could retain it's frozen shape.

And Shippo, who had latched onto Rin as his next caretaker, had wanted to run through the last of the snow before it melted.

Rin had spent the night in Sesshomaru's arms, in her room as he still hadn't said she could venture any further into the west wing and he always came to her room at night. Rin would wake up every morning alone, but her body still warm from his and a rose on the pillow where he had been the night before.

And this morning, Shippo had run into her room just before she got up to get dressed and asked for her to play with him.

But Rin's tranformation was reaching it's final stages so she was very tired, her limbs felt extremely heavy. Her ears had pointed delicately and her finger nails now grew sharp. Her new teeth had grown in now. The canines were sharp and a bit longer than she was used to and she kept cutting her tongue on them. But the advanced healing wouldn't arrive until after the sleeping stage, which Rin was fighting, so she just had to deal with the coppery taste in her mouth.

So she ended up sitting on a stone bench as Shippo ran around.

It was very peaceful, so peaceful she had a hard time believing all the pain that surrounded her.

She rarely saw Sesshomaru during the day anymore but he never failed to visit her at night. And in their arms they found a comfort and release from everything that hurt them. She didn't worry about getting with child. Ayame assured her that, since time didn't flow around them, it would be impossible for her to concieve. Which was both depressing and a relief. Depressing because images of beautiful babes with Sesshomaru's silver hair and her own brown eyes danced in her head. Then again, any child born into this world would suffer their curse and this was deffinately not something she would wish on any child of hers so it was something of a relief.

She yawned wide again, her eyes watering.

It was too early to try and coax anything from the earth around her and she didn't worry about the plants dieing. The timelessness of this place kept them healthy if dormant. She didn't do much reading unless it was to Sesshomaru now. It felt odd to try and sit and read without doing it out loud and having his unwavering attention as she did so. Which was what they did every night before bed anyway. She had tried reading by herself but before she got into the book she would read something she wanted to share with him and give it up for later.

So she was back to exploring the palace. But that was harder now that she got tired so easily and quickly. Fighting the sleeping only made her more sleepy which, in turn, only made it impossible for her to do anything.

Last night she had been unable to give her body to her lord because she had been far too tired. But he hadn't pushed the matter, he had laid her back before she could force herself and told her to sleep.

It was a miracle she had woken up by herself this morning. She doubted it would happen again soon. She was so close to slipping into sleep where she sat on the cold, hard bench which wasn't even remotely comfortable.

"Hey, Rin." Shippo appeared at her feet and climbed up onto her lap. "Are you tired?"

Rin nodded. "A little."

"Do you want to take a nap?" he asked sweetly.

Rin laughed a bit. "Thank you, but no. You go ahead and keep playing. I'll watch."

"Are you sure?" he asked, tilting his head adorably.

Rin nodded. "Where's Kirara? Why don't you play with her?"

Shippo shook his head. "Kirara doesn't like the water. Ayame's going to scold me when she sees how wet I've gotten."

Rin laughed. "Yes, she'll scold me to for letting you."

They laughed together conspiratorily before Shippo jumped off her lap and ran and jumped into a big puddle of slush.

Rin smiled as she leaned back and nestled herself into the warmth of her sable.

It was strange, but she was happy. She was filled with a strange contentment in this castle that she called both prison and home with the man she called both captor and lover.

She missed her family terribly. A day hadn't gone by since she left the house of her father and sister's that she hadn't wondered how they were. Claude must have made it to the village by now, so perhapse her family was already back in a state of moderate luxury.

Had he and Eri married, as had been planned before the shipwrecks? Had Yumi finally settled down? She doubted it, Yumi was a bit of a free spirit.

Pa must have missed her. But surely he wouldn't have been mad, he would understand why she had done what she had done. She wished for them nothing but happiness and even if she never saw them again, it was okay. She hadn't lied in her letter, every word she had written was true.

Rin _was_ happy, she _was_ doing well. Sure she was also turning into a demon and, once she lost the battle to her desire to sleep, she would be a full one just like the others. But, despite it all, she was happy.

She remembered Sesshomaru's story perfectly. The enchantress had said that when Sesshomaru learned to love another and earned her love in return, the spell would break.

That must have been why Kagome had tried so hard to push Rin and Sesshomaru together. Anything to break the curse, to end the cycle of pain.

Did Rin love Sesshomaru? She wasn't sure. How did one tell if they were in love or not.

Sure, she had let him in her bed. She let him find pleasure in her body just as she found it in his. Was that love or was that simple desire? She knew full well you could have intercourse without love.

She must have a loyalty to him or she wouldn't be yawning so often and her ears would still be normal. Was loyalty a start of love?

She loved her father, she loved her sisters. But what she felt for him was nothing like what she felt for them.

She didn't fault Kagome for trying to keep it all a secret from her. Now that Rin knew she had to love him to break the spell, she was trying to do so. And if she was trying to love him, how would she know if she truly loved him?

And the curse hadn't broken yet, so did that mean what she felt wasn't love? Or did it mean that he didn't love her? He had admitted he had used a woman without loving her in the past, so he was capable.

Or was he? Could he do that anymore after having being punished so severely? Not that Rin would hate him if he didn't love her and he was just using her. That's what she offered from the very beginning.

She sighed. All the question she had wanted answered had been, but now there were a thousand more. And no one had the answers for them.

"Rin?"

She turned her attention back to Shippo, who was sniffing at the air, a look of confusion on his tiny face.

"What's wrong, Shippo?" she asked.

"I smell someone." he said. "They're not like us though?"

"Not like us?" Rin asked. "What do you mean?"

"It smells..." he sniffed some more. "It smells like how you used to smell."

"Like I used to...You mean a human?" Rin suddenly understood. "There's a human nearby?"

"Yeah!" Shippo nodded. "They smell like they're walking around the wall."

The only reason someone would walk around the wall was if they were trying to find the entrance. And a human meant that someone was in danger out in a forest of demons.

Rin jumped up, her tiredness suddenly leaving her, as she ran across the cobblestone walkways towards the giant metal gate.

"Where are they?" she asked Shippo as she started sniffing as well. But she hadn't developed a sense of smell yet and all she smelled was melting snow.

"Uh..." Shippo concentrated, running at her heels. "They're getting close to the gate. Coming from...the right, I think."

Rin reached the gates just as a person, dressed for deep winter, with a cloak over their face, came into view. They grabbed the gate bars with two gloved hands.

"Hello?" Rin called out as she approached drawing their attention to her and she heard a sharp intake of breath.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Did she let this person in? Kagome had done so for her father, but he had needed the shelter. Then she had sent him on her way, well Sesshomaru had. She didn't think Sesshomaru would be pleased with her for bringing in a human. And there was no demon attacking at the moment.

"Please, you should leave." Rin told the girl as she came up to the gates. "The lord doesn't accept guests. Travel east for three days and you'll find a-"

"Beauty!"

Rin stopped, surprised.

The cloaked woman threw her hood back revealing a familiar head of black hair. "Beauty, it's me!"

"Yumi!" Rin stared, shocked, at her sister. "What are you doing here?" Rin ran to the bars and put her hands over her sisters.

"I've come to find you. What aren't you wearing gloves, it's freezing?" her sister asked.

Rin drew her hands back. Her claws, while there, weren't all that noticeable yet, so all her sister saw was her bare hand. She looked down and realized, besides her sable, she wasn't really dressed for winter. In fact, she just wasn't all that cold.

"That doesn't matter." Rin shook her head. "Why are you here?"

"Beauty, I have to talk to you. You need to-Oh, my!" Yumi jumped back in shock when Shippo peaked out at her from behind Rin's skirt. "What is that?"

"This is Shippo." Rin said, surprised that anyone could be scared of the orange-haired kid. "Yumi, come inside. It's dangerous out there." As Rin spoke, she opened up the large gate just enough so that Yumi could slip in, then she closed it back.

"Oh, Beauty!" Yumi threw her arms around her neck and held her tight. "I've missed you so!"

"Yumi. It's good to see you." Rin said truthfully as she hugged her back with a little trepadition. She doubted Sesshomaru would be so happy that Rin's sister came to visit. So she pushed her back. "Yumi, I was being serious. My lord doesn't like people visiting. You have to go home."

"What?" Yumi looked shocked. "Did you just say 'my lord'? Your lord, Beauty? You can't mean that monster!"

"My name is Rin." she said. After so long of being adressed by her prefered name, it was weird being called Beauty again. It was kind of annoying. "And yes, I did. I love you, Yumi and give my love to Eri and papa, but you have to go."

"No, please. B-Rin!" Yumi jumped forward and grabbed her arm. "Please, hear me out. I've been traveling for days trying to find you. Please, just listen!"

"Alright. Alright." Rin pulled her arm out of her grasp. "Come inside where it's warm. Shippo, go stay with Ayame."

The fox kit nodded, then ran off towards the kitchen, Yumi watched him go with fear in her eyes.

"Come on." Rin indicated that she should follow as she walked back towards the castle. There was a fire going in the front drawing room, the same drawing room her father had stayed in actually. She would speak with Yumi there, then send her back. She was sure Sesshomaru already knew of her presence and she wanted to get her back home as soon as possible.

Then she realized she was having bad thoughts about the sister she hadn't seen in months. But Yumi had spoken bad about Sesshomaru and she had no idea what was going on. Then she thought that she would have thought the same back then.

She led her into the drawing room, and smiled a bit when she saw tea already waiting for them. Clearly, Ayame had the same idea. Hear her, then send her away as fast as possible.

They sat down and Rin poured her a drink but Yumi just held the cup, looking around her with not a little bit of fear.

If Rin had any doubts about her being the one to come here and give herself to the castle, they were cleared now. Yumi was terrified by just this room and cute little Shippo.

"Well?" Rin prompted het to speak. "Say what you've come to say."

"I...We got your letter." she said. "It was so strange hearing from you. We thought...we all though that..."

Rin smiled sympathetically. "I'm really okay, Yumi. Honest. And I am happy. Believe me." She shrugged out of her sable, making sure to keep her hair covering her ears. They were the most damning evidence of her transformation right now.

"Papa and Eri were so upset when they figured out what you had done." Yumi said. "They were devistated. Especially papa. He...He got sick again, Beauty."

Rin froze and the small smile she had fell from her face. "He did? Oh, no. He didn't..."

"No, no!" Yumi reassured her quickly. "He's alright. Mostly. He had been getting worse for a long time now. Then, one morning we found the letter on our front step. It was incredible! Papa was so happy!"

"That's good." Rin beamed. "I'm glad."

"But then..." Yumi frowned and her shoulders slumped. "And then he got worse again. All he did was stare at your letter anymore. He's been so...empty. It's like he doesn't believe it but he wants to so much. It's turning into an obsession Rin. Eri and Claude have been trying everything they can, but papa is inconsolable."

"Claude is there?" Rin asked.

Yumi nodded. "He and Eri are to be wed in the spring. But we're afraid papa wont make it that long."

"Oh, no..." Rin felt so sad. Her poor father.

"I finally decided to do something. To be brave like you, Beauty." Yumi said. "I ran into the forest, I've been searching for this place for so long. I feel like I ran into the outer wall by some miracle."

"Yumi, you have to go home." Rin repeated. "You're not allowed to be here. The master wont be pleased."

"The master?" Yumi repeated, stunned. "I can't-Have you lost your sanity!"

"Yumi!" Rin looked surprised.

"How can you call that man 'master'?" she demanded to know as she slammed her tea down, spilling it everywhere. "He's a monster!"

"He is not!" Rin jumped up from her seat and glared down at her sister. "Don't you dare speak a bad word about him! You don't even know him!"

"I know what he did!" Yumi countered, jumping up as well. She was never one to take a scolding. "He punished our father to a life sentence just because he picked a flower!"

"You don't know what those flowers meant to him!" Rin cried back. "And his punishment is far worse!"

"His punishment?" Yumi looked disbelieving. "Beauty, you cannot be serious!"

"Yumi, I love you." Rin said, anger flooding her veins. "But I wont have you speaking ill of Sesshomaru!"

Yumi looked like she was about to yell at her, tell her something that they would both end up regretting.

Then she sort of...deflated as she let out her breath. "I didn't come here to argue with you, Beauty. I only came to talk."

"And you've said your piece." Rin said. "Now go home. Give my love to everyone and congratulate Eri and Claude for me."

"Wait, Beauty!" Yumi grabbed her arm again. "Please, you have to come home! Papa is dieing!"


	19. It's Not Enough

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**Chapter 19: It's Not Enough**

"What?" Rin looked at her sister in shock. "B-But you just said he was getting better!"

"No!" Yumi shook her head. "I said he got worse! He's been obsessing over your letter. He doesn't eat, he barely sleeps! Beauty, he's not going to last much longer."

Rin sunk into the couch, staring into the fire like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Yumi sat next to her, pleading with her. "Beauty, please. Please, you have to come back."

"What?" Rin looked at her again in shock. "Yumi, how can you say that?"

"Please!" she insisted. "All papa needs is to see you! See that you really are happy, that you really are alive. Prove to him that the letter wasn't somehing me and Eri came up with to trick him because, honestly, we would have if we thought of it."

Leave? Just leave? How could Rin do that? The entire idea was just...impossible.

"Yumi, that's...impossible." Rin stood up again and began pacing nervously and in an extremely unladylike fashion.

"I-I can't leave!"

"Why not?" Yumi looked confused. "Beauty, I just saw you open the gate. No one stopped you. No one questioned you, no one even looked! What's stopping you from leaving?"

"I'm his prisoner, Yumi." Rin said. "By deffinition I can't leave without his permission."

"His permission." Yumi repeated, dumbstruck.

"Yes." Rin said. "Papa made a deal with him that one of us would be his prisoner for the rest of our lives for his crime."

"His crime?" Yumi looked outraged. "His crime! What crime? Rin, he picked a flower! What crime is there in picking a flower for his daugher? For you!"

"I already said, you don't know what those flowers meant to him!" Rin jumped to his defense immediately. "He's not a bad guy!" She suddenly felt a bit like Kagome.

"You really have gone around the bend." Yumi shook her head. "Look, let's assume for the sake of argument that you're right." she said calmly. "That there is something good in this guy that you've discovered over this past winter and fall. I haven't been here for the past winter and fall. All I know of this guy is that he terrorized my father, ripped apart my family, and imprisoned my sister for the rest of her life for picking some worthless flower. That's all I know of him."

Rin couldn't argue with that and was a bit surprised at how reasonable Yumi was being. Yumi had never been reasonable before. A lot must have changed while she was gone.

"That's not how it is." she said. "It's more complex than that."

"Alright. Sure." Yumi agreed. "Fine. But this is our father! How can you even think of staying here when you can save his life? How are you not conerned."

"Of course I'm concerned!" Rin cried. "How can you think that I'm not? He is my father!"

"Then why are you even questioning this?" Yumi asked. "Come with me! Come home with me!"

She was right, yet Rin still hesitated. She had to leave, she could go save her father and that's what she should do.

But how could she leave? She had already been cursed, she would soon be sleeping all the time and after that she would be physically different. Her eyes, Ayame assured her, would change color. Her claws would get longer. She would hear better, see better, be stronger and until she got control of her strength, she would constantly be breaking things.

And she had already given her word to both Sesshomaru and herself that she would serve out her sentence. Even now that her sentence would likely be considerably longer if she and Sesshomaru failed to fulfill the requirements for breaking the curse she had given her word.

She felt like she was being torn into two different directions and she had no idea where to turn, where to go. Her father needed her, Sesshomaru needed her.

"Oh, gods..." Yumi said, shocked. "You're actually hesitating. How can you be hesitating?"

Rin looked away. She felt so horrible. How could she chose? How could anyone expect her to?

"Rin."

They both turned at his voice.

"Oh..." Rin heard Yumi say as the overwhelming presence that was Sesshomaru hit her for the first time.

"My lord..." Rin said, feeling very near tears.

It was a good thing Yumi was still seated or she would have collapsed. Rin, however, was used to it now. She ran forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. It was a place of comfort, a place where she was safe.

"You're father is ill." he said simply.

Rin nodded. "He may be dieing. Yumi came to...to..."

"Take you back." he said, proving that, whatever he had been doing and where ever he had been, he had heard the conversation.

Rin didn't respond, she kept her face burried in his chest. She didn't care that it must look odd to Yumi.

Yumi couldn't breath. Those golden eyes landed on her for the first time and she felt as if every muscle in her body had turned to jelly. She felt the need to cower before him, show her belly before him in submission. And yet Rin could hold him, be near him. Yumi was terrified of him and Rin treated him like...like...

Yumi gasped as she realized.

"Beauty...you're..."

She caught those gold eyes and the breath froze in her lungs again.

"You want to go to him." Sesshomaru said to Rin.

"I know." she said. "I'm your prisoner. I'll not go back on my word."

There was a pause.

"You must go to him."

Rin looked up in surprise. "What did you say?"

"I release you." he said. "You are no longer my prisoner."

Rin couldn't believe what she was hearing. But she knew Sesshomaru never said anything he didn't mean. He wasn't looking at her, he was looking away, his face as blank as smooth stone.

"Thank you." she whispered. "Thank you."

She backed away from him, unable to believe that he had done this and swearing she would return. "Yumi. Let's go." She grabbed her sable and when she turned back to the door he was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Yumi didn't speak on their trip back. Her system had been overwhelmed by Sesshomaru and Rin, in sympathy, didn't force anything from her. She fought back her fatigue to travel.

She had to be alert in the forest of demons. She had to be constantly aware and on watch to, at least, avoid the demons. She wasn't fool enough to think she could fight them. But, perhapse, the senses that were getting stronger could help her avoid them.

It wasn't until the second day, that it dawned on her.

"Yumi, how did you get to the castle?' she asked her sister as they walked.

"I walked, of course." Yumi answered as she brushed aside a branch. "Any horses get skittish in here."

"No, I mean..." Rin paused. "This forest is full of monsters, demons without any care of people. How did you avoid them?"

Yumi shrugged. "I don't know. I just walked. Nothing has come after me."

Rin was confused. Inuyasha wouldn't leave his patrol on the border, if he was even keeping up with it after the news of Kagome's final transformation. Her father was attacked, she only made it because her path was guarded by Sesshomaru.

So how did Yumi manage the journey?

She looked around, with all her senses.

The forest was quiet.

She smelled no demons, she heard nothing moving but her sister climbing over a fallen tree. Birds sang.

Birds sang.

Birds didn't sing in the demon forest. Doing so would call the demons attention to them as if they were singing 'eat me, eat me'. They would only be singing if there were no demons around at all.

And if the demons weren't around, where were they?

She felt suddenly afraid. She had to get there quickly so she could tend to her father then come back and tell Sesshomaru of this. It may be nothing, but her instincts felt off. Kagome had taught her that after, and sometimes before, the transformation was complete, her instincts would start becoming stronger.

"Beauty? I thought we were in a hurry?" Yumi asked because Rin had paused to look around. "What's wrong? Did you hear something?"

"No." Rin smiled, not wanting to alarm her sibling. "I didn't hear anything. Let's keep going."

Rin slept, hard, every night. Yumi had to shake her awake each morning before Rin would get up. It disturbed her that, now, of all times, her transformation would reach the sleep stage. She needed to stay awake for this. She could do all the sleeping she needed later. For now she had to get home.

Which is how she woke herself up every morning when she felt as if she would go back to sleep.

Her father needed her.

Then, on the eve of the third day, Yumi, who was always ahead of her, called back. "Beauty! Oh, my goodness, Beauty! It's home! We're home!"

Rin, much slower and a bit nervouse, patted her hair down around her ears, and walked out of the tree line.

There was the village. Just as she remembered it. Small and sprawling. She saw the ocean for the first time in months, the blue of it sparkling in the sunlight.

They had come out far from the hut she had shared with her family for a year, but Yumi wasn't running towards it.

She was running towards the finer houses in town.

Rin walked after her. Scared, like a runaway coming home.

Everything was the same. Just the same as every winter since her birth. Kids were playing in the slush, just as Shippo had been doing. People went about their business, laughing and talking. There was a big ship, not a boat an actual ship, in the harbor. She recognized her father's business crest on the main sail.

Claude's ship.

Just as it would have been before the hurricane.

She walked down the paved road, following Yumi who looked extremely exited to be back.

But she just felt...out of place.

She kept her hair around her face, hiding her ears. She reminded herself not to smile too wide for fear of showing her new canines. She kept her finger nails hidden, the claws growing more obvious by the day.

It wasn't until people began staring that she realized that she had been gone for almost half a year and she returned wearing a fine gown and sable. What must they be thinking?

Rin didn't care, she just wanted to go home.

Back to Sesshomaru.

She turned back once to look at the forest but she couldn't see any sign of the castle. But she did see, out of the corner of her eye, a flash of silver.

Inuyasha? Sesshomaru?

"Beauty!"

She turned back to her sister who was waving frantically.

"Come on!" Yumi beckoned her. "Come see papa! The new house! Eri and Claude! They're all waiting! Come on!"

"Grace!"

Rin looked on in surprise as Eri appeared out of the crowd, her face pale.

"Grace, where have you been!" she demanded to know. "Papa has been so worried! You know he can't handle something like-"

"Hope, look!" Yumi pointed excitedly at Rin.

"Grace, please. Pay attention." her sister scolded. "This is very serious."

"It's Beauty!" Yumi said, her smile wide.

"What?" Eri looked over and saw her sister. Her face went blank.

Then she beamed and ran forward and threw herself into Rin's arms.

"Beauty! Beauty! It's you! You're back! You are alive!" she cried, literally cried as tears poured from her eyes.

"I'm back." Rin agreed as she hugged her sister.

"Oh, oh! Come!" she said grabbing Rin's hand. "You must come see, papa! He's been distrought."

Since it was what she came to do, Rin let Eri lead her by the hand to their new house.

"Claude, Papa! It's Beauty! Beauty is home!" she called out as Yumi ran into a house, not as fine as the one they had before but much better than what they had been living in.

"Beauty?"

She saw Claude's familiar blonde hair come out of the door, his face puzzled. "By the gods. It is, Beauty. Jon, Beauty is here!"

Rin was ushered into the new house, her family surrounding her, smiling and laughing and crying. Eri and Yumi did a lot of crying.

They opened a door to a room, all for papa, and pushed Rin inside.

Rin looked surprised as she saw her father bedridden, a familiar sheaf of parchment in his hands, looking at her, surprised.

"Beauty?" he asked, almost confused. "Beauty, is that you?"

"Hi, papa." Rin smiled as wide as she dared as she approached and threw her arms around his frail neck. "It's so nice to see you again, papa."

And she cried.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I don't understand!" Shippo cried. They were laying on Ayame's bed. Her, Shippo, and Kirara cuddled together.

"Rin had to go see her family." Ayame explained. "Her father is sick. She's going to make him feel better."

"And then they're coming home, right?" Shippo asked, very near crying. He had lost too many people lately. "She'll get him better then come back, wont she?"

"I don't know." Ayame sighed sadly. They had been so close.

"But, why would the master let her leave if she wouldn't come back?" he asked unhappily.

"He loved her too much to make her stay." Ayame told him.

"Then the spell should break, shouldn't it?" Shippo asked. "He falls in love and the spell breaks, right?"

Ayame shook her head. "It's not enough enough. She has to love him in return. His sacrifice proved his love, now she must prove hers."


	20. When The Storm Comes

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**Chapter 20: When The Storm Comes**

Rin had missed her family much more than she realized. She knew, of course, that she longed to see them. But it wasn't until she actually got to see them that she found out just how much.

Eri and Claude were to be married. They acted like husband and wife at times, then when their hands brushed they would blush and look away from each other. It was so sweet and innocent.

Claude was happy to see her and Rin was happy to see him as her future brother. He was just as much of a gentleman as she could remember. He was obviously in love with Eri and Rin would watch them out of the corner of her as often as she could. She certainly didn't act like that around Sesshomaru. Did that mean she didn't love him right? But love was always different wasn't it and no one expressed theirs the same way.

Yumi had calmed down and become a lot more reasonable than she had been before. She did most of the caring for their father since Eri was to be married soon. But Claude assured her, as soon as was appropriate, that he would help take care of Jon after the wedding.

After Eri fought to wake her up the next day, Rin sat down to breakfast with her family for the first time in half a year. Her father came to the table with everyone and, judging by how that excited Yumi and Eri, Rin was sure it was the first time in a while.

He spoke animatedly, smiling wide and eating much. But he kept one hand wrapped around Rin's as if afraid she would disappear if he let go.

And no one mentioned the castle. It was as if Rin had never left at all.

It all felt so surreal. Sitting in a kitchen she didn't recognize, surrounded by people who had changed the last winter so much it was like she didn't know them. And still, they were her family.

But every now and then, when she was sure no one was watching, she looked out a window towards the forest where her home waited for her return.

"Beauty."

She turned and smiled at her father as he approached her.

"Ah, you've only gotten more beautiful with time, my Beauty." he said, kissing her cheek. "I've missed you, my darling."

"I've missed you, papa." Rin said honestly as she embraced him tight. "I'm so glad you're feeling better."

"Not as glad as I am to see you alive." he frowned as he pushed her back. "How did you get away from that monster?"

"He let me go." Rin said, beaming.

"That horrible beast?" he astounded.

"Oh, no. He's not like that, papa!" Rin defended him as Yumi and Eri came into the room. "He's really kind and amazing. Don't think bad of him, papa."

Yumi scoffed. "Here you go again. I thought maybe once you got away from that place you would stop spouting all this nonsense."

"Yumi." Rin looked as surprised as Eri to hear her speak so. "How can you say such a thing?"

XXXXXXXXX

Sesshomaru looked out from the roof of the tallest tower of the palace. The forest had been silent these last few days. He had seen neither hide nor hair of the demons that roamed about it.

The silence was disturbing Ayame and Shippo both.

"What's wrong, my lord?" Jakken asked from behind him. "I'm sure Rin will return."

"It's not that, Jaken." Sesshomaru said. "Listen to the forest."

Jaken, ever faithful, did so. Then shrugged. "I hear nothing, my lord. Just birdsong."

"Exactly." Sesshomaru said. "When was the last time you heard birdsong from the forest?"

"Well..." Jaken paused. "Never. Then why are they singing now?"

"Because the demons are gone." Sesshomaru said. "They're no longer surrounding the castle as they have always done."

"Then, where are they?" Jaken asked.

Sesshomaru didn't know. In all the hundreds of years he had ruled, he had never heard birdsong from the forest.

That he heard the chipper tunes did not bode well at all. It was, as Ayame said, eerie.

XXXXXXXX

"What do you mean, my Grace?" Jon asked his middle child. "What nonsense?"

"You should have heard her, papa." Yumi said, glaring at Rin. "Telling me that that demon wasn't as bad as he was. Like her mind was bewitched!"

"Bewitched?" Eri looked terrified at the prospect as she looked back at her sister.

"I am not bewitched." Rin said. "And Sesshomaru isn't bad! He's just misunderstood!"

"Sesshomaru?" Jon repeated with Eri.

"She calls that thing by name." Yumi accused her venomously. "And you've let it into your bed!"

Eri gasped as Jon looked a this youngest. Surely she would deny such a thing. Surely she would never...

But Rin held her chin up, proud. "I don't see how that is any of your business, sister. If I let my master into my bed, that is my choice!"

"See!" Yumi pointed at her as if Rin had admitted some great crime. "She calls him 'master'! And what have you been hiding, sister dear?"

Yumi ran forward and grabbed a fistful of Rin's hair and pulled it back roughly causing to Rin to cry out. "Look! Her ears!"

"Beauty!" Jon cried as Eri's legs gave out.

"You sleep like the dead, always hide your ears, and look at her fingers! Claws!" she threw her sisters hair from her like it was a diseased thing. "Tell me you are not bewitched now!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Kouga took a deep breath. "You smell that, Kagome?"

"What?" she asked, smirking darkly.

"It's the smell of victory." Kouga looked behind him where his precious wolves waited, ever patient.

Behind them were all the demons of the forest they could gather. There had been a few casualties as he and

Kagome went about gathering them together, but they all agreed to work together. They all wanted the same thing, after all. The destruction of the prince and that damned annoying castle.

"I can't wait to bathe in his blood." a dark voice whispered from beyond the trees and several other hisses and growls and voices agreed.

"I don't think he has enough blood for all of us to bathe in." Kagome pointed out sweetly. "How about we all agree to just take a bite of him so we all get a taste of that victory?"

"You're such a kind soul, Kagome." Kouga laughed. "I think that's more than fair."

"Fine." another voice cackled. "I want to taste his liver."

"I want his liver!"

"No, I do!"

"I want to gnaw on his heart!"

"Why do you get the heart?"

"Yeah, we deserve his heart!"

"As long as I can drink some of his blood, I'm happy."

Kagome and Kouga ignored them as they began dividing up body parts.

"Are we all ready to attack, then?" she asked him.

"I think so." Kouga stretched leisurely. "Today is a good day to die."

"And a better day to kill." Kagome responded.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I already said I'm not bewitched." Rin said, fixing her hair. "I'm cursed, there's a difference."

"Oh, Beauty." her father looked heartbroken. "Why?"

"Sesshomaru was cursed many years ago." she said. "And all those loyal to him get a share of it. Including me."

"Loyal?" Eri repeated as she struggled back to her numb feet. "Beauty, you're loyal to him?"

"Completely!" Rin said without hesitation. "He's in pain and he's hurting. He needs me." her voice softened. "You don't understand. You weren't there. It's aweful there. He doesn't deserve what happened to him."

"That doesn't excuse him for punishing us." Yumi yelled. "We didn't deserve what happened to us!"

Rin heard her, but it was like her words just weren't reaching her heart. A half a year ago, she would have agreed completely. But a half a year ago, she didn't know Sesshomaru like she did now. "He's a good guy, he really is."

"Beauty." her father reached out and cupped her face in his hand. "You were always the most forgiving of my children. But you have to understand how we can't forgive him. And just look what his actions did to you."

Rin looked down at her claws, they were really looking like claws now. But that wasn't Sesshomaru's fault. It was the enchantress'. Everything was her fault.

"Papa," Rin said at last, "I'm happy you're better now, but I have to go back."

XXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha felt like a hollow shell. He had ever since the moment Sesshomaru had come to tell him that Kagome had finally went through her final transformation.

He jumped up into the tallest tree he could find and settled himself on the uppermost branches. It was a tree from which he could see the castle but still be near enough to help the village if need be.

Not that need be had come lately. It was as if all the demons had lost interest in attacking the village. That was strange enough to pike up his interest even in the horribly lost state he was in now.

He had always known that one day Kagome would leave just like the others. But knowing something and seeing it happen were two completely different things.

Then he smelled it.

Inuyasha jumped to his feet on the branch and looked out into the forest.

He could smell them.

The demons.

But it was a concentrated sent. As if everyone of them were moving.

He heard thunder and looked up as the sky, which had been moments ago bright blue, suddenly darkened and a terrible feeling went through his body.

He looked towards the castle just as an enormous wave of demons burst from the trees and ran towards it.

"No!" he yelled thinking of his family.

He turned and ran towards the village.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Beauty." her papa looked at her like she had grown a second head. "What do you mean 'go back'? He freed you, didn't he?"

"He did." Rin smiled at him sadly. "And I love you all and missed you terribly. But I'm tied to that place now."

"You mean because of your ears?" Eri looked distrought. "That doesn't matter to us Beauty. We love you anyways."

"I know you do." Rin smiled at her. "But I can't stay. They need me. I have to go back."

"No." Eri shook her head in disbelief. "But you just got here."

"I know." Rin smiled. "But I feel as though I've been gone for years." She turned back to the window where she knew the castle waited. "I want to go home."

"What?" Yumi's eyes filled with tears. "You can't go back! You just can't! I take it all back, I didn't mean it! Stay, Beauty! Stay!"

"I can't." Rin left her father's room and went back out into the front room. "He's waiting for me. I have to tell him something."

"Tell him what?" her father asked as her family followed, shocked.

Rin turned, beaming. "I have to tell him that I love him!"

The door burst open and the family screamed as a silver haired demon ran inside.

"Inuyasha!" Rin was shocked to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"Rin, there's trouble." Inuyasha said without preamble. "The castle is under attack, we have to go back. Now!"


	21. Battle At The Castle

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**Chapter 21: Battle At The Castle**

"What?" Rin looked shocked. "How can that-?"

"No time!" Inuyasha said urgently. "We have to get back to the castle. You're not a full demon yet but you're still stronger than most humans and we could use your help."

"We'll never get back in time." Rin said, trying not to panic. "It takes three days to travel through the-"

Inuyasha spun around and kneeled down. "Climb on. I'll run us there. It'll take an hour at most."

Rin didn't hesitate.

As her family watched on in wonder, she climbed onto his back and got a good grip on his shoulders. As soon as she was secure, Inuyasha stood up and was running out the door and speeding off towards the forest.

XXXXXXXXX

Ayame cried out as she swung her frying pan. The ugly rat demon flew over the wall with a squeal of pain.

"Shippo! How are you doing?" she asked. Sweat had broken out over her forehead and her hair was flying around her face in a most annoying fashion. But she had no time to pull it up.

"Fine." the kit tried to say bravely.

Kirara roared as she flew by, almost 40 times her orginal size as she grabbed a snake demon in her great jaws and ripped at it mercilessly.

Ah-uhn was flying around as well, unmuzzeled and shooting lightning from his great mouths.

Ayame wasn't so fortunate as them. She was a cook, not a fighter. But her cast iron frying pan was proving a great weapon.

Another centipede demons came crawling towards her, it's many legs rippling. Ayame swung down hard, crushing it's head.

Shippo was behind her, protected by her because he just couldn't fight.

But Ayame was getting exhausted. There were just so many.

A bird demon swooped down and knocked the pan from her hands with it's talons.

Ayame cried out in pain as the metal clanged away on the cobblestone steps.

"Shippo!" Ayame said. "Go to the armory! Break it open! Bring me something, anything!"

"Alright!" the kit, small and easily able to hide in the bushes, jumped away toward the sealed armory.

Ayame raised her fists, ready to take them on. She wasn't a fighter, but she still had the strength of a demon.

A sickly green lizard demon jumped out at her. Ayame swung as hard as she could and felt his face crunch under her fist.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sesshomaru sliced through the belly of a hog demon and it fell, bleeding, onto the marble of the castle foyer.

All around him lay bodies, bleeding or dead, each unable to move at least.

He held up his claws, daring silently the next opponant.

However, he was starting to get fatigued. He was a great fighter and very strong even for a demon. But the fact was that if something didn't change soon, the others would overwhelm him by sheer numbers alone soon.

Jaken was behind him, he wasn't a fighter but he wasn't about to abandon his lord either. The imp had a tiny dagger in his hand that he was using to great effect on the smaller opponants leaving less for Sesshomaru to worry about.

But he wasn't a fool. One man against an entire forest of demons wouldn't last very long.

Two snake demons charged him at one from either side.

He dodged one, took a gracing hit from the another, but managed to slice its long belly open, angering its brother.  
>Who struck fast but Sesshomaru dodged and punched a hole into its head.<p>

He threw the carcass away and faced his next challenger, a trio of ogre demons.

XXXXXXXXXX

Shippo kept low and ran fast as he made his way to the armory. He heard Kirara flying above him, keeping the demons off of him.

Every so often, a piece of something would come crashing down around him. But he ignored it and ran for all his little legs were worth.

Sesshomaru had sealed the armory many years ago as a means of keeping people from making the final change with a weapon. All the demons that attacked them did so solely with claws and fangs because of that precaution.

But that also mean that they had no means of defense other than fangs and claws. Shippo could create a fox fire but it was only an illusion and did no real damage.

He was scared, but he knew that he had to serve his lord and help protect his home.

So he ran towards the sealed armory on all fours, panting hard.

XXXXXXXXX

"Rin!"

Rin's head shot up from Inuyasha's shoulder where she had been falling asleep. "Sorry." she shook her head, trying to keep herself awake.

"Your transformation is almost finished." Inuyasha said. He was jumping from tree to tree, making his way through the jungle. The movement wasn't particularly soothing, but Rin was just so tired.

Oh, why couldn't her transformation be finishing some other time! Why now?

"How much further?" she asked him.

Inuyasha didn't respond, he sped up.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ayame!" Shippo ran towards the wolk demoness, a short sword in his hands, trailing behind him.

"Good work, Shippo!" Ayame ran at him and drew the weapon without picking up the sheath.

She turned to her attackers, panting hard. Her dress was in tatters and there was a long gash on one arm. Her back

supported three long claw marks from a demon she had let get behind her.

But she wasn't about to give up yet.

A tiger demon charged at her. She swung the sword and connected with its great claws.

The beast's power was greater than hers and she fell to one knee.

"Ayame!" Shippo threw a bright green fire at the demon.

It roared in illusionary pain as it backed off. Ayame took that moment to swing the sword in an arm, slicing its neck open.

Blood poured out, soaking her and Shippo both.

The kit shook in disgust, but it clung to his fur.

"Where's the master?" Ayame asked him as she dodged a wild swing from an armored snake demon.

"Inside, I think." Shippo cowered behind her.

Ayame looked towards the doors but all the entrances to the castle were blocked by demons.

And she couldn't run either.

The snake demon lunged. Ayame lunged. The sword in her hand pierced the snake's head.

Before she could throw it off, its mate came from her side and sank its jaws into her belly.

Ayame screamed in agony.

Shippo jumped up and bite the snake's head, digging his tiny hands into its eyes.

The reptile hissed in pain, releasing Ayame, who collapsed onto the ground.

The snake shook its massive head, sending Shippo flying into the castle wall.

"Shippo!" Ayame yelled for him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sesshomaru was fiercly glad he had sent Rin home. The waves of demons kept coming and coming.

Jaken had fallen from exhaustion behind him, his tiny body covered in the tiny bite marks of the rat demons that had overtaken him before Sesshomaru had killed them.

He stood over his subject now, defending both his unconcious body and his castle from the invasion.

"Well, well."

Sesshomaru looked up as Kouga walked in through the front doors.

"How nice to see you again, my lord." the wolf demon sneered. "What's wrong? You look a bit tired."

Sesshomaru held up his claws, not speaking but ready for the coming attack anyway.

"You think you can fight me as you are now?" Kouga growled, bloodlust clouding his eyes.

Still Sesshomaru didn't speak.

Kouga charged forward, his left foot coming up to kick his former master's face.

Sesshomaru grabbed the limb and threw Kouga away.

As the wolf hit the wall, Sesshomaru sliced an attacking spider head demon in half.

He turned in time to block Kouga's next attack but took the next kick to his stomach.

Kouga went to kick him again but Sesshomaru slammed his fist into his gut.

The wolf demon grunted in pain as he jumped back.

XXXXXXXXXX

"The castle!" Rin gaped in horror as Inuyasha leapt from the tree and landed in the center of the courtyard.

A moment later, they were surrounded on all sides by sneering demons.

Inuyasha dropped Rin just as she let go of him to stand on her own feet.

She ducked a lung from a snake demon who's jaw was already stained crimson.

"Rin!" Inuyasha called to her as he sliced the attacking demon in half. "Get inside! Find Sesshomaru!"

"How?" Rin asked as she dodged a swipe from a bear demon.

Inuyasha punched it in its jaw, sending the creature flying into the outer wall.

She looked down and caught sight of one of Ayame's iron frying pans. She grabbed it and swung it hard, connecting with the face of a bird demon that had lunged at her from the sky.

"Will you be all right on your own?" she asked him, using the frying pan as both shield and sword.

"I'll be fine." Inuyasha said slamming a demon's head into the ground as he sliced another one in half. "Just go!"

Rin ducked another claw and sped off towards the castle.

It was as straight a sprint as she could manage. But demons would jump in her way, forcing her to beat them back with the frying pan before she could continue on.

XXXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha jumped high into the air then fell onto the back of an ogre demon. He snapped its neck, then jumped away as its body crashed onto the ground, crushing a mole demon.

He landed in something wet.

He looked down, shocked to see a puddle of blood.

He turned around and gasped at the sight of Ayame's pale, bloodied form.

"Ayame!" He reached out to her but knew it was already too late.

His instincts had him jumping to avoid attack.

"Want to dance?" Kagome sneered at him, her claws flashing.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha said in horror as the love of his life came at him, intent on killing him.


	22. The Fatigue of Battle

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**Chapter 22: The Fatigue of Battle**

Kouga was weaker than him, both he and Sesshomaru knew that for a fact. But Sesshomaru had been fighting demons for over an hour now. He was exhausted. His muscles, made stronger and given more stamina by the echnatress's spell, were protesting at over use. His side was burning, his lungs desperately calling for more air as his heart beat frantically in his chest.

And Kouga himself was no easy foe. The strength in his legs was incredible and one kick after another landed on Sesshomaru. Most he was able to block, but others he had no choice but to take. The wolf was not tired at all and all he had to do was back off before a hoard of other demons charged forward, happy to take his spot.

Sesshomaru was at a huge disadvantage, but there was nothing he could do but defend himself. He was pretty sure he wouldn't make it out alive. And part of him was glad for that. Glad that the pain would finally end.

But a bigger part kept pulling Rin's face into his mind, driving his overworked and abused body to keep fighting, keep dodging, keep standing after every hit.

But he was so tired, and every part of his body was screaming at him in pain and stress.

He was going to die this day, but he would die fighting.

XXXXXXXX

Rin was merciless as she batted the monkey demons out of her way. The five of them swormed like wasps, but Rin was ready for them.

She knew that once these were Sesshomaru's loyal followers, she knew that they weren't in their right minds, and she knew that they might be her friend's friends and loved ones.

But it was very hard not to hurt someone so determined to hurt you.

Rin was a gentle soul, at least she thought so. So she was surprised by how easy it was to swing her frying pan, smash into the face of the demon before her, and not flinch when blood sprayed from its face onto hers.

She told herself it was the demon that was forming in her. It was making her impervious to this horror around. But she knew it wasn't true.

Honestly, she just wanted to get to him. Sesshomaru was inside, he needed her and she needed to be beside him.

She screamed when on of the monkeys jumped forward and bit hard into her shoulder.

Suddenly, the thing burst into green flames. It hollared and jumped back, squirming trying to dislodge the blaze.

"Rin!"

Shippo ran forward and hid himself behind her skirts.

"Shippo? Are you alright?" Rin asked, not looking down because a big, ugly demon with no shape she could identify came up to her. It shot its tongue out and Rin jumped to the side just in time to avoid getting speared by the sharp, fast muscle.

"I don't understand." Shippo cowered a bit. "Why are they attacking us?"

"All that matters right now is that they are." Rin said scooping the kit into her arms and running past the ugly thing.

"Shippo, listen to me."

She dodged a swooping attack by a lizard like flying demon and jumped a bush of roses that had beens destroyed by stampeding demons.

"Shippo, run away from here, do you understand?"

"Why?" the kit asked, afraid. The castle was his home, even if it was being attacked it was the only place he had ever known.

"Just do it!" Rin siad sharply. "Run that way towards the sea. Run until you reach the village. Go to the house of Jon, that's my father. Tell them I asked them to care for you. Do you understand?"

"But what about you?" Shippo asked, trembling a bit.

"We'll come get you after the danger has passed." Rin promised, hoping and praying that it wouldn't be a lie. "Now go!"

Shippo nodded, his tiny face hardening in determination.

He jumped from Rin's arms and darted between the legs of the bigger demons who let him pass mostly because he was too small to be worth it.

XXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha didn't attack, he couldn't.

It wasn't Kagome, yet at the same time, it was.

Even if she was determined to kill him, there was no way he could harm her.

Kagome was sneering, her beautiful face deadly and dangerous and she tried to disembowel him with her bare claws.

"What's wrong?" she asked as he kept jumped back, refusing to touch her. "Am I too much for you?"

"Kagome, I wont hurt you." Inuyasha promised, jumping over her and instead, going to attack a mantis demon that was busy trying to get inside to fight Sesshomaru like the others.

He couldn't reach his brother ot aid him, there were too many demons blocking the door each clamoring to get their chance at the fallen prince. But he could start attacking the back of the line.

But as soon as he felled the mantis and turned to the next target, Kagome was back in his way, pushing him away.

"No, no, no." she laughed as she managed to land a slice on his side. "Kouga instructed me to keep you from helping your precious brother."

"Kagome, please!" Inuyasha begged. All he needed was for her to remember, just a little bit. Enough to keep her from attacking at least.

"Beg for your life and maybe I'll spare it." Kagome promised, the glint in her eyes one of malice. "After all, it's not you we're here to kill."

XXXXXXXXXX

Rin wasn't getting any closer to the foyer of the castle, or even the castle at all. In fact, she was sure she was getting further away.

She was locked in a sword versus pan battle with some kind of strangely pretty, ghost like woman.

And the ghost woman was winning.

If only she didn't have a sword. It wasn't really fair that she got demon strength and a weapon.

Then in dawned on her.

Where did the ghost lady get a weapon anyway? The armory had been sealed, Ayame told her that long ago.

She ducked a sword swipe and looked over to see an ogre grinning, carrying a mallet towards the castle entrance.

The armory. It was open.

And if the armory was open, so was the servant's staircase that led to it that Ayame advised her against taking that day.

Rin abondoned her battle and ran towards the unsealed armory.

It was easier running away from the castle. Demons were less interested in the prey that tried to escape when what they were truely after was waiting, getting weaker and weaker, in the castle itself.

When she reached the building, it had been almost completely looted, a few broken spears, a bent sword, and a destroyed box where all that was left.

However, nothing else had been touched.

Including the wooden door that blended almost seamlessly with the stone wall.

Rin picked up the bent sword, thrust it into the crack, and yanked ruthlessly, ripped the door from the wall.

Rin threw the sword away and ran inside.

It was dark, it was dusty, but it was clear of demons. Rin's eyes, not quite at a demon level of sight, were still just a bit better than a humans eyes.

And the servant's stair wasn't always stairs, in this case it was just a hall that led to a fork that went, one way, to the kitchen and, the other, to the second story daisy room.

The second story daisy room was only one hall away from the second story main hall in the east wing.

The second story main hall led right across the main foyer grand staircase.

And the main foyer grand staircase would deposit her right into the foyer, right at Sesshomaru's side.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha was no longer jumping away from Kagome's blows quite so much, now he was doing his best to block them.

He would smack her hands aside, trying to grasp them, to grab her, but she would dance right out of his reach every time.

Ah-Uhn passed over head, spreading lightning on the ground before him, destroying minor demons but unable to do more than damage the major ones.

"Stop running!" Kagome growled, unhappy at how her prey refused to fight back. There was nothing quite so annoying as having a one sided fight.

"I wont fight you!" Inuyasha swore as he dodged a swipe, twirled behind her, and grabbed her about the waist, pinning her arms to her side. "Now stop this and return to the forest with the others!"

"Or what?" Kagome sneered. "You just promised not to fight me and you wont hurt a hair on my head? That's not much incentive to withdraw."

"This is rediculous." Inuyasha said as she thrashed in his grasp. "Why are you doing this?"

"The fallen prince must die." Kagome said. "And we're very happy to do it."

"But what vendetta do you have against Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked. "You have no memories of your life before your final tranformation. Why are you doing this?"

"Because this damn castle is annoying!" Kagome admitted growling. "Every time we see it, we all feel a special hatred. And the sooner he dies, the sooner it will all go away!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Sesshomaru was on one knee, panting, sweat pouring down his face and soaking his hair.

Kouga laughed, mocking him. "Look at the great Sesshomaru now. Pathetic."

Sesshomaru didn't repsond. He couldn't. He had used up everything he had. He urged his muscles to repond, ordered them to stand, to ready for another fight, but they refused to listen. There was nothing left, no energy to draw on.

"Here, Kouga!" A ghost like demon passed him a sword. "Take his head off so we can all enjoy devouring him.

Kouga nodded and approached, test swinging the sword. "Good weight. Don't worry, it'll be quick,_ my lord_."

Sesshomaru said nothing, he tried again to move but there was no response from his body.

Kouga smirked evily as he lifted the sword above his head.

"Good bye,_ my lord."_


	23. Tale As Old As Time

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Last chapter. Thank you for all your support and all your love and all your reviews. I can't tell you how happy they made me and how happy I am you all guilt tripped me into finishing my fics. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

All the love in my heart,

Sombra112

**Chapter 23: Tale As Old As Time**

Rin had to stop, she had to.

She leaned against the wall in the daisy room, panting.

She had fought, hard, and run all the way here up a flight of stairs and down the dark halls. All while being so tired she was sure that she would collapse any minute.

It was an overpowering exhaustion, she just wanted so badly to sleep. The bed in the daisy room called to her in a siren's song so sweet she wasn't sure she could resist it.

Her heart was beating rapidly and a bit off beat from her mind forcing her body to not fall asleep. But each time she blinked, she risked not opening her eyes again. She had to move forward, but her head was light and her muscles were getting weaker.

The only reason she could push herself off the door and out of the daisy room was the knowledge that Sesshomaru waited for her.

XXXXXXXXX

Inuyasha grunted in pain when Kagome slammed him against the outer wall again and again.

"Let go!" she snarled, doing it again.

"No!" he shouted, digging his claws into his own arms, his blood streaming down both of them, to keep from loosening his grip and letting her slip through.

"You beast!" Kagome cried, thrashing, twisting, trying to escape his clutches.

He was winning and he hadn't laid a single blow on her. That alone was more infuriating than anything.

"I love you, Kagome." Inuyasha smiled through the aching in his head from being slammed into the stone. "I'm not letting go. Ever."

"I'll kill you!" she swore snapping her jaws ineffectively.

"Remember who you are, Kagome." Inuyasha begged. "Remember the girl you are. The sweet, kind girl. You who would do anything for those you served, for those you loved. That's the you you are. Not this, Kagome."

Kagome howled, a desperate howl of a trapped animal that echoed through the castle grounds and forest lands.

Thunder rocked the ground and lightning split the sky as the heavens opened and water poured down.

She wasn't trying to hurt him anymore, she was just thrashing about, trying to get away from him.

Inuyasha's tears blended with the rain on his face as the woman he loved did everything she could to get away from him.

Her howls echoed deep in his bones, his heart, his soul. Tortured screams, pain filled cries. It was a sound he had missed being away from the castle, a sound he had hoped never to hear, and a sound he now couldn't separate from.

XXXXXXXXX

Shippo turned and looked back towards the castle. He knew that sound. He spent days quivering, but not hiding, from it as it came from his adoptive mother's mouth.

He knew he had to run, Rin ordered him to run and as the master's woman, she had authority over him.

But the castle was his home. And the people there, even the demented, evil ones, were his family.

Shippo hadn't grown in many, many decades. His mind, his body, his emotions had never matured.

But at that moment, he knew that he couldn't just follow orders. Sometimes, a person had to act on their own based on what they thought was right.

He appolized silently to Rin for disobeying her, and ran as fast as his tiny legs could carry him back to where he really belonged.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rin's legs ran forward, her body refusing to give in. Even as she bit her lip, drawing blood from the force of it, she could feel her limbs getting lighter. Like the exhaustion was leaving her.

Maybe that was it. Maybe her transformation was over. Maybe she was finally a demon.

But she didn't feel any stronger.

In fact, she felt like she was running slower. The corridors were getting darker, the sounds around her less clear, the pan in her hand getting heavier.

But she didn't care at the moment.

He was down there.

He was waiting.

XXXXXXXXX

"Good bye, _my lord_." Kouga sneered at the pathetic prince before him. He savored for just a moment, the victory he was about to taste. The destruction of all that he hated. Behind him, he felt the support of the demons the great prince once commanded.

He swung down with a laugh of triumph.

CLANG!

His sword was knocked out of the way by one side swing of a...

Frying pan?

"Ah, little Rin, right?" Kouga smirked at her. "I remember you."

Rin glared up at Kouga, her hands trembling in fear.

"Rin." Sesshomaru said, lifting his head a bit, not without effort.

Rin was panting and she held the pan like it was a sword and faced Kouga, trying to be as brave as Sesshomaru was.

"Get. Out." she said with all the force she could muster. She didn't really have much of a hope of stopping them, but she had to do something. "You are not welcome here. The master banished you from the castle."

Kouga laughed. "You think you can beat us all?"

"No." Rin said, stepping in front of Sesshomaru. "But I can die trying."

"No!" Sesshomaru barked with all the power he could muster.

But Rin didn't move. She would do anything to keep her lord healthy and happy. Even if that meant sometimes doing what he didn't want her to do.

"This will be interesting." Kouga said lifting his sword and striking.

Rin parried the first attack and dodged the second.

But she felt weaker than she did before. Not tired. No, her sleepiness was disipaiting. Just...weaker. Like her own body was heavier than it had been only moments before.

Kouga sliced once, twice, knocked the pan from her hands and it clanged away on the marble surface.

Then the point was at her neck and Rin was defenseless.

"You lose, little Rin." Kouga said. "And both you and your precious prince will die."

"NO!" Sesshomaru jumped up and tackled Kouga to the floor.

Kouga grunted as they hit the floor and the sword skitted away.

Rin jumped after it just as a familiar ghost demon did.

The demon reached it first and Rin dodged just in time to avoid getting her hand cut off.

Kouga and Seshsomaru were rolling around on the ground, grunting, punching, and clawing where they could. The watching demons snarled, hissed, chittered, growled as they stared.

The ghost like lady demon was slower than Kouga, Rin was able to back up, avoiding the swings of the weapon.

"Kill them!"

"Kill them!"

"KILL THEM!" echoed a thousand times all around them as they moved.

Rin tripped, cried out, over her frying pan and landed hard on the floor just as Kouga was thrown bodily from Sesshomaru.

The ghost lady demon made to hack off Rin's head, but collapsed with Sesshomaru's claws on her back.

"My lord!" Rin climbed to her feet and grabbed onto him, supporting his weight, as his muscles again started to give from overexhaustion.

A snide, dark laughter drew their gaze to Kouga was picking himself off the ground, wiping the blood from his lip.

"Not bad, prince." he said, getting to his feet. He turned his head from side to side, popping his neck. "But I don't think you have it in you to do that again."

He held up his claws, smirking at the incoming victoy.

He shot forward like an arrow from a bow.

Rin grunted and pushed Sesshomaru from her.

Sesshomaru cried out, a wordless howl of pain.

Rin flinched.

Kouga screamed his victory.

The room exploded in light.

"Until you can learn to love another, and earn her love in return, you shall remain cursed."

The words rang in the air.

They weren't hissed in anger or screaming in pain. It was more like the whisper of a memory.

Rin felt...warm.

She opened her eyes to a whole other world.

The dark castle around her, the gloomy, depressing, pain filled castle, was bright.

The gray marble was white, the red rug was green. The paintings on the wall were no longer grotesque, they were glorious.

And Kouga in front of her was certainly not part wolf.

The obviously human man blinked in confusion and, slowly, lowered his claw free hand.

The demons behind him looked in wonder at their hands, their bodies, their fang free smiled breaking out slowly on each face as realization came over them.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagome was breathing hard, her body exhausted.

Inuyasha's arms were still around her but she wasn't fighting them anymore.

"Inu...yasha..." she whispered in disbelief.

She looked up at the sky, the clouds were gone now and, in their place, sunshine shone down on the courtyard full of...

Humans.

Inuyasha released his grip on his own arms, his bloody fingers leaving his pain filled forarms.

Kagome turned to him, her brown eyes shining.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said, so much spoken to him in that single word.

Inuyasha looked in amazement at his clawless hands as the wind blew his black hair around his face.

"Kagome?"

They both turned to see a ginger headed child walking into the palace courtyard, his clothes too small for his body which was suddenly that of an average four year old human.

"Shippo." Kagome felt tears in her eyes at seeing the boy that had been her child for so long suddenly free.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ayame groaned as she sat up. The wound in her side that had bled out was gone. She felt heavy, so heavy.

She held up her in hand in awe as she realized what was missing from it.

"Ayame?"

She looked over to see friends, her old friends, converging on her, offering her a hand to help her up.

And tears fell from her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Sesshomaru." Rin turned and almost didn't recognize the man who pulled himself up from the ground.

His hair, once so silver, was pitch black. And his eyes, so bright gold, were like a stormy sky.

The great prince stood, looking at himself in wonder, in disbelief.

He looked over at her and Rin almost didn't believe it was him.

But that look in his eye, that look that he reserved just for her, was exactly the same. And that overpowering presense of his was back.

It really was him!

Rin ran forward and threw herself into his human arms.

"I love you, my lord." Rin said to him, smiling so hard he cheeks hurt.

And the humans around them cheered in joy, in love, in freedom.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Good morning, Rin." Kagome smiled as she walked into her queen's sitting room.

Rin smiled at her old friend, turning her attention away from the window.

The castle was gleaming now with a full staff to attend it. The grounds were more beautiful than she could ever make them and the poeple were rejoicing in the return of their humanity.

Kagome and Inuyasha had married as soon as they could, happy to be joined together at long last. And Kagome was already heavy with child. An event both of them had looked forward to for the longest time.

Shippo's family, unfortunately, hadn't survived the decades in the forest. Something that the strangely intelligent four year old took very well. His mind was growing so fast these days, it was a wonder to behold. Then again, it wasn't so surprising considering he had had a very long time to learn.

Rin's family had marveled at the changes in Rin's new family and had a much easier time accepting them as humans, a fact none of the former demons held against them. Eri and Claude stayed in the village by the sea, insisting that the sea was where they belonged. Yumi, however, moved to the castle with Rin and was busy enjoying life to its fullest.

Her father also moved into the palace and was on the way back to perfect health with the care the palace doctors and servants gave him.

And Rin, she was the happiest woman in the world.

Sesshomaru was a great king, a great ruler. The country was back, not to its former glory, but coming back. As Rin understood it, the main trade now was timber. The untouched, centuries old forest giving lots of it as people cut it back to make homes, recreate the lost city. They weren't worried about it, there was so many, many miles of it unexplored for so long. And, honestly, it wasn't the happiest memory they had.

"Good morning, Kagome." Rin beamed at the new princess.

"The mas...His Majesty would like to see you." Kagome corrected herself. 'master' was what he was, not what he is. "He's in the ballroom."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Rin opened the ballroom and stepped inside, looking around for the first time ever.

The ballroom was glorious.

Three long chandeliers hung down from the ceiling, the delicate crystal glinting in the sunlight from the high windows on either side of the room.

"Do you like it?"

Rin turned back towards the door as Sesshomaru stepped forward from the wall.

"It's beautiful." she said, looking back around.

She saw no hole in any of the four perfect walls. It had been restored to its former glory.

"We're to hold a ball here." Sesshomaru said. "Our people requested it to celebrate the lifting of the curse."

"A ball sounds like a wonderful idea." Rin said walking into his arms. "Are you happy, my lord?"

"I am." he nodded once, though he didn't smile Rin believed him. Sesshomaru didn't lie.

"Do you love me, my lord?"

He nodded once. "I do."

"Tell me." Rin said, beaming.

Sesshomaru considered the request for a moment before saying, without regret or reservations, "I love you, Rin.


End file.
